'Earnestly contending for the faith,' (Jude 3 ) as well as sharing encouragement and hope through Scripture, (Romans 15:4) and through the poems that I write. One of many voices on the Internet warning Christians of the importance of testing the teachings of men (and women) against the unchanging truth of God's Word. (Acts 17:11) I 'warn you with tears' through much of what I write, to 'be on guard against the savage wolves that will come in among us who will distort the Word of God' as God's Word warns us about in Acts 20:26-31

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Tag Archive: doctrines of demons

As we begin this series of posts, I would like to start out by sharing some Scriptures with you in order to lay a solid foundation based on the truth of God’s Word before we start looking into some of the serious concerns that one should have when it comes to these supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary. We will also be using our critical thinking skills based on what we can learn from what God says in His Word in order to help us learn to discern truth from error, which is a must in these days of rapidly growing spiritual deception!

Let’s begin:

We know from many passages of Scripture that the level of spiritual deception in the end times will be extremely powerful. Jesus Christ, Himself, strongly warned about spiritual deception and mentions it first among the many signs that will point to His soon return. He also made it very clear that these lying signs and wonders could deceive the very elect –if it were possible:

“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:1-4)

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:23-27)

God also strongly warns us in His Word that we must not be ignorant of Satan’s devices (2 Corinthians 2:11) and how we are to:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

It is also made abundantly clear to us in John 3:19-21 that those without Jesus Christ love the darkness because of their sin and are not willing to come into the light, and in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 we read that many will perish because they will not choose to receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. These are the ones to whom God will send strong delusion to because they chose not to believe the truth; their desire will be to continue on in their unrighteous ways:

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. For everyone who practices evil hates the light, and does not come into the light, lest his works be reproved. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may me manifested that they are wrought in God.”(John 3:19-21)

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12)

One can only speculate at this time as to what all of these lying signs and wonders will actually be. However, if you will please just take the time to read this series — in its entirety — I believe and pray that after you pray for discernment and read and listen to the information that I will be sharing with you (concerning how the messages given by these apparitions contradict the very Word of God and instead reflect the many false messages of unity proclaimed by those involved in the New Age Movement), you will then come to realize that these supposed apparitions of the Virgin Mary are instead cunningly deceptive plans devised by Satan himself to mislead and deceive many who will choose to reject Biblical truth and refuse to test things against Scripture. I truly believe (along with some other Christians) that these apparitions are presently playing — and will indeed continue to play — a huge part in end times spiritual deception! However, my opinion doesn’t matter. Let’s look at some of the facts. Just think of the many who have already been lured into New Age Contemplative Spirituality through Spiritual Formation classes and Contemplative Prayer by reading books by authors such as Priscilla Shirer,Beth Moore, Margaret Feinstein, Ruth Haley Barton, Mindy Caliguire, Richard Foster, Richard Rohr, Rick Warren, Gary Thomas, Henry Blackaby, (and many others), because they have been encouraged to have “experiences with God” instead of seeking to know God in a very real and personal way by reading and studying His living, life-giving, unchanging Word –the Bible! Or think of the many who have involved themselves in Eastern meditation practices by joining so-called Christian yoga classes that, sadly, are being offered at many churches these days!

Here are some more Scriptures that I would like you to please keep in mind as you read through the first installment of this three, or possibly four part, series:

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As wesaid before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For ifhe that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

“Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.” (Jeremiah 14:14)

“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-3)

For those of you who may be Catholic, please know that I am not out to attack what you may hold dear to your heart if you indeed hold the Virgin Mary in a place of honor much higher that you should. It is out of love and concern for all of you that I am sharing all of this information with you to warn you so that you will not be deceived by these alluring apparitions and the messages that come from this entity that claims to be the Virgin Mary, and to urge you to look to Jesus Christ alone for truth, forgiveness, and salvation!

Let’s begin now by looking at some of the messages given during these apparitions from around the world. If you will take the time to pray for discernment and test these messages in light of Scripture, you will see how this being who claims to be the Virgin Mary does not reflect the humble Virgin Mary that we see revealed in God’s Word who always pointed to her virgin born Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, and not to herself. This being who claims to be the Virgin Mary also makes requests for chapels to be built in her honor!

Please also note the emphasis on “penance” and the need to “make sacrifices” that is stressed in these messages given to the visionaries, thus rendering Jesus Christ’s once for all sacrifice on the cross as being insufficient to pay the debt of our sins in full, when God’s Word clearly shows us otherwise!

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego in 1531

A widely known series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary are the ones that allegedly took place in 1531 in Guadalupe, Mexico when it is said that the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego and requested that a chapel be built in her honor.

“For I am your merciful Mother,” she said, “to you and to all mankind who love me and trust in me and invoke my help. Therefore, go to the dwelling of the Bishop in Mexico City and say that the Virgin Mary sent you to make known to him her great desire.”

The Bishop was very hesitant to believe Juan Diego and requested that this Lady give him some sign. Juan Diego was told by the Lady that she would grant his request the next morning. However, Juan Diego was unable to return the next morning because his uncle became very ill. Two days later as he was on his way to the church to request for a priest to come to his dying uncle, he was stopped by the Lady, who said to him, “It is well, littlest and dearest of my sons, but now listen to me. Do not let anything afflict you and be not afraid of illness or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Are you not in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need? Do not fear for your uncle for he is not going to die. Be assured…he is already well.” Juan Diego was exceedingly happy to hear her reassuring words, and then asked her for the sign that he was to bring to the Bishop. He was told to climb to the top of the hill where he would find many flowers in bloom, and he was to cut them and bring them to her. He was surprised to find many flowers blooming on the stony ground. Returning to the Lady with the flowers held within his cloak, the Lady rearranged them and sent him on his way to the Bishop, telling Juan Diego that this would be the sign for the Bishop that would convince him to fulfill her request. When Juan Diego was in the presence of the Bishop he opened his cloak, and the flowers gently tumbled to the floor, and the Bishop was awestruck as he saw an amazingly colorful image of the Lady, just as Juan Diego had described her, imprinted on his cloak. “Earlier that same day, December 12th, she had also appeared to Juan’s uncle, Juan Bernardino and restored him to health as she had told Juan Diego.” “Both had been among the first of the natives to be baptized into the true faith several years before.” (Source – YouTube video – The story of the five apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego)

The “true faith” that is being referred to here, is the Catholic faith, not Biblical Christianity.

Even though it seems that the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that appeared on Juan Diego’s cloak/tilma made from cactus fiber came about in a miraculous way, and the colors have somehow been preserved from fading, and the cloak/tilma was protected from damage and deterioration over hundreds of years from being exposed to the smoke of burning candles, and it was not damaged when bombs were planted under the image in some flowers in 1921, we cannot come to the conclusion that this image was a miracle from God since God’s Word clearly condemns images of any kind: Exodus 20:4 Deuteronomy 4:16, 5:8,

We must also keep in mind the warnings in Scripture about false miracles and lying signs and wonders in the last days. (Matthew 7:23, 2 Thessaalonians 2:8,9, Revelation 13:13,14)

The details concerning this image, although intriguing, (reflections of what appears to be that of Juan Diego and other people that were discovered in the eyes of the image, and other details that lead people to wrongly believe that Mary is the Queen of heaven), add to the evidence that this is not a miracle sent from God, but rather a counterfeit miracle that, once again, points people away from Jesus Christ, and to Mary. These apparitions of a woman who claims to be the Virgin Mary, is not the Virgin Mary revealed in Scripture, as you will soon come to realize –if you will choose to test these supposed miraculous details against Scripture.

What I found to be most disturbing is the fact that this image of the Virgin Mary is given credit for the conversion of eight to nine million of the pagan Aztec Indians into the Catholic faith, who had previously sacrificed thousands of their people to their pagan gods, when it is the gospel and faith in Jesus Christ alone that brings one to true salvation!

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16,17)

In this trailer from a documentary movie based upon these alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Guadalupe, the focus is on “unity,” which has been promoted among religions for quite some time now. It is said that this image brought about “the unity of different peoples and different cultures” and it is also proclaimed as “an image that would unite a continent.” This documentary is narrated by John Caviezel, who states,”The Virgin of Guadalupe is not just a bridge between heaven and earth, but also a bridge between different cultures, it is her love that unites us.”

In the video further below, it is wrongly stated that the Virgin Mary is the woman spoken of in Revelation Chapter 12 who is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

Catholicism also teaches that the Virgin Mary is the woman in Genesis 3:15 who crushes the serpent’s head. In Part 3 of MY TESTIMONY: FROM FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY TO PEACE AND ASSURANCE – HOW GOD REVEALED THE TRUTH TO ME AS I WAS READING A CATHOLIC NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE, (that you can read HERE), I shared with you how the Latin Vulgate mistranslated Genesis 3:15 using the word ipsa (she) instead of ipse, he, referring to Jesus Christ, and therefore the Catholic church claims that it is the woman who crushes the serpent’s head, and that the woman is Mary.You can hear a detailed teaching on this, and more, in the following video:

Former Catholic, Timothy Kauffman, author of Mary Mary Quite Contrary, a book that addressed the apparitions of Mary, made an excellent point in a video (that I will be sharing with you in Part 2 of this series), by stating — and this is not an exact quote — that since the Catholic church teaches Mary was sinless, she should not have experienced pain when she was giving birth to Jesus because pain during childbirth is a consequence of sin. And since the woman in Revelation cries out in pain, it cannot be Mary, or it would not be consistent with Catholic doctrine. He also points out the fact that this woman who claims to be Mary in these apparitions oftentimes proclaims herself to be the woman in Revelation. Later in the video he makes this statement:

“What it all come down to is that…we have the Word of God, and we compare it against what the popes teach, and what the apparitions teach. Both can’t be right; either the apparitions and the pope are right, or the Word of God is right.”

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary at LaSalette, France 1846

Here are some of the messages given during the apparitions at LaSalette (which took place in September of 1846) that I quick captured for you from the video further below. You will also be able to see them — along with many other messages given during these apparitions — if you choose to watch the video when time allows:

There is nowhere in the Bible that mentions there will be a “future Reign of Mary.” You will, however, find that God’s Word tells us that there will be a literal thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth. (Revelation 20:1-4 and Isaiah 65:24,25)

In this message notice how it is Mary who is shown to have power to hold back the arm of her Son, Jesus Christ, from striking out because of the rebellion of mankind:

Here is the video:

Apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, France in 1858

Next to the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal in 1917 (which I have already written about in great detail), probably the next most widely known apparitions of the Virgin Mary are the ones that allegedly took place in Lourdes, France. It is said that the Virgin Mary appeared to fourteen year old Bernadette a total of twenty-eight times. In many of these appearances it is said that the Virgin Mary remained silent.

Below are some of the messages given to Bernadette during these alleged apparitions. You will find the following messages, and more, in the video above.

8th Apparition February 24, 1858:

“Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners. Kiss the ground as an act of penance for sinners!”

9th Apparition February 25, 1858:

Bernadette: She told me to go, drink of the spring… I only found a little muddy water. At the fourth attempt I was able to drink. She also made me eat the bitter herbs that were found near the spring, and then the vision left and went away.” In front of the crowd that was asking, “Do you think that she is mad doing things like that?” she replied, “It is for sinners.”

10th Apparition February 27, 1858:

800 people were present. The Apparition was silent. Bernadette drank the water from the spring and carried out her usual acts of penance.

11th Apparition February 28, 1858:

Over 1000 people were present at the ecstasy. Bernadette prayed, kissed the ground and moved on her knees as a sign of penance. She was then taken to the house of Judge Ribes who threatened to put her in prison.

13th Apparition March 2, 1858:

The Lady asked her: “Go, tell the priests to come her in procession and to build a chapel here.” Bernadette spoke of this to Fr. Peyramale, the Parish Priest of Lourdes. He only wanted to know one thing: the Lady’s name. He demanded another test; to see a wild rose bush flower at the Grotto in the middle of winter.

14th Apparition March 3, 1858:

Bernadette arrived at the Grotto, but the vision did not appear. After school, she heard the inner invitation of the Lady. She went to the Grotto and asked her again for her name. The response was a smile. The Parish Priest told her again: “If the Lady really wishes that a chapel be built, then she must tell us her name and make the rose bush bloom at the Grotto.”

16th Apparition March 25, 1858:

The vision finally revealed her name, but the wild rose bush, on which she stood during the Apparitions, did not bloom. Bernadette recounted; “She lifted up her eyes to heaven, joined her hands as though in prayer, that were held out and open towards the ground and said to me: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The young visionary left and, running all the way, repeated continuously the words that she did not understand. These words troubled the brave Parish Priest. Bernadette was ignorant of the fact that this theological expression was assigned to the Blessed Virgin. Four years earlier, in 1854, Pope Pius IX declared this a truth of the Catholic faith (a dogma).

For those of you who are unaware of what this teaching of the Catholic Church is concerning the Immaculate Conception, it is not one that focuses on the virginity of Mary regarding the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, but rather it teaches that Mary did not inherit original sin as all of us did. They also teach that she never once committed sin of any kind her whole life long. Here is what it says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The Immaculate Conception

Para 490 To become the Mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace.” In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace.

Para 491 Through the centuries the church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by the virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

Para 492 The “splendor of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son.” The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love.”

Para 493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia) and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature.” By the grace of God Mary remained free from every personal sin her whole life long.

To say that Mary was sinless is to go beyond what Scripture says when it declares in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In Romans 5:12 God’s Word also says that “just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned.” To present a teaching that says Mary never sinned her entire life is also adding to the text what simply is not there, and God’s Word warns against doing such things! (1 Corinthians 4:6)If any teaching cannot be found in Scripture, or if the teaching conflicts with Scripture, it is to be rejected! God’s Word is to be held in higher regard than any teaching of any church –no matter what!

In the book of Revelation God gives this warning:

“I warn everyone who hears the words if the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18,19)

Clearly, God’s Word is not to be tampered with!

In the eyes of precious Catholics the teaching of the Immaculate Conception also places Mary on the same level as Jesus Christ, who, as Scripture clearly shows us, did remain sinless His whole life long even though He was temped in all ways as we are:

“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him, or known him.” (1 John 3:5)

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:22)

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us then approach the of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Once again, for those of you who are Catholic, I must ask you the question that God strongly impressed upon my mind in 1980 when I began to read the little Catholic New Testament and saw how the many teachings of Catholicism totally oppose what God’s Word has to say:

“Are you going to believe the Word of God, or the word of man?”

God’s Word gives us this warning in Colossians 2:8:

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

In 2 Peter 3:15-18 we are also told:

“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the errors of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

In the video below you will see the following quotes taken from messages supposedly given during apparitions of the Virgin Mary. If this was truly Mary she would not be claiming to have the attribute of God’s omnipresence, or telling people to consecrate themselvesto her heart.

“I’m always next to all those who pray and pray with maternal anxiety and concern.” (8:47 min. mark)

“I am always present in your midst.” (@ 7:16 min. mark).

“I am always next to all those who pray and pray with maternal desire and instinct.” (@8:52 min. mark).

“I’m always next to all those who pray and pray with maternal anxiety and concern.”(@8:56 min. mark)

“Consecration to My Heart is the vaccine that as loving Mother, I give you to keep epidemics of atheism that infects so many of My children, taking them to the death of true spirit.” (@9:07 min. mark)

Video – The Truth is Kept Intact Only in the Catholic Church

At the 9:07 minute mark in the video above you will also see the following:

Once again, the above message is one of many examples that show how precious Catholics are taught that they cannot come directly to Jesus, but must come through the Virgin Mary.

In the video below you will hear the following:

“…a bleeding wound appeared on the right hand of the statue of Our Lady in the chapel. Sister’s guardian angel told her the flowing of blood is significant for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins.” (5:55 minute mark)

“According to Sister Sasagawa, the Blessed Virgin wants to gather compassionate souls who can please God by their sufferings.” (7:28 minute mark)

Agnes Sasagawa: “He [God] loves us so deeply. He is trying to save us from the chastisements through Our Lady’s messages.” (7:59 minute mark)

If you listen to the video below, you will come to realize by what this priest says, that the Catholic church clearly teaches that Mary is the dispenser of all graces. In doing so they are, once again, causing many dear Catholics to turn to Mary instead of coming to God through Jesus Christ alone as God’s Word clearly reveals we are to do. (John 14:6) (Acts 4:12) You will also see that they attribute to Mary what only should rightly be the accomplishments of Jesus Christ in the role of our redemption:

“…she gave supernatural life to us at the foot of the cross by acquiring with her Son the graces of our redemption. And her role as mother did not cease after her ascension into heaven but she continues to dispense graces to souls here on earth –all graces. And for this reason we call her ‘The Mediatrix of All Graces.’ So today we invoke her under this title and we ask her to give her all the graces that we need to become the saints that God wants us to be.” (00:58-1:40 minute mark),

In the quick captures below, which are illustrations from the Baltimore Catechism, you will see that it is Mary who is identified as the Dispenser of All Graces:

Here are two videos on this topic from a Biblical perspective. I added many more for you on this topic and others, further below under Related Videos:

In the video below you will hear the following:

“So in today’s gospel where we have Our Lady standing at the foot of the cross…this is from St. John’s gospel…this prophecy of the sword of sorrow comes to fulfillment. The sword of sorrow that will pierce the soul of Our Lady is driven through her soul at the foot of the cross. And thus she becomes the Co-redemptrix with the Redeemer and the mother of the human race. So as she brought forth our Lord at Bethlehem with no pain, so now she brings forth the members of His mystical body in great pain… she gives birth, supernatural life to us poor sinners at the foot of the cross. And we too are called to share in this passion, in this work of redemption….we ask to be incorporated into this mystery of redemption, not in the objective redemption that Our Lady took part in, that is, opening the gates of heaven with her Son, acquiring the graces of redemption, but we’re called to share in the subjective redemption, that is in the distribution of those graces by our prayers, by our sacrifices as Our Lady did, uniting those with Christ on the cross we can become co-redeemers ourself, collaborators in the redemption of others, calling down graces, the graces of the redemption, upon souls who are in need…” (00:53-2:41)

While it is true that Mary indeed experienced deep sorrow as she looked upon her Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, as He suffered in agony during the six long hours that He hung on the cross and took upon Himself the sins of the world and the full wrath of God that was intended for us because of our sins, to say that she participated in the work of redemption is completely unbiblical! Nothing can be added — or needs to be added — to the sufferings of Jesus Christ that led to His death which satisfied God’s demand for justice.

The Catholic church has been in the process of petitioning popes — past and present — for quite some time now, desiring to have Mary declared as Co-redemptrix with Jesus Christ:

This is why it is so very important for everyone to be born again by the Spirit of God (not through baptism, as taught in Catholicism) so that when we read and study God’s Word we can then come to know the truth by the power of His Holy Spirit, and be able to discern truth from error as soon as we hear something! No matter what is proclaimed through the teachings of the Catholic Church, if it is not in God’s Word and if it conflicts or contradicts God’s Word even in the slightest way, it is not true!

Here is some of what God’s Word says that points to Jesus Christ and to Him alone as bringing about our salvation:

“He [Jesus Christ] came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13) (Insertion added)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)

“Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:7-9)

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” (Acts 16:25-31)

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:23,24)

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”(Romans 5:1)

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5:6-9)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:1-11)

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9,10)

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Galatians 2:16)

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thessalonians 5:9)

“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7)

“By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:22-25)

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” (1 Peter 1:18-21)

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18)

“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7 )

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”(1 John 5:11-13)

In the following videos you will hear many attempts made by Catholic clergy and leaders in the Catholic church to justify their reasons for petitioning the pope to have the Virgin Mary proclaimed as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate –titles that should in no way be given to Mary, for Jesus Christ alone is our Redeemer, our Mediator, and our Advocate with the Father, and before Jesus ascended into heaven He made it known that the Holy Spirit would come and be our Advocate (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:13,14, 1 Peter 1:18-21, 1 Timothy 2:5, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:1, John 14:16,17, 26, John 15:26, John 16:7)!

These are also titles that the entity in many of the apparitions is requesting to be proclaimed by the pope as *dogmas of the Catholic church, *(dogma – a truth that must be divinely revealed, and it must be infallibly defined by the Catholic church as something that has been divinely revealed, and it must be believed as true by all who claim to be Catholic). I will be sharing more detailed information with you in Part 2 to give evidence to the fact that this being who claims to be the Virgin Mary is making requests to have the pope grant her these titles, and that when he does, true peace will come to the world for a time!

Blessed Virgin Mary: Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate

Dr. Miravalle, Professor of Theology and Mariology at the Franciscan University at Steubenville for over 35 years. He may have a lot of credentials, but does everything he says line up with Scripture? Or is he simply trying to insert into Scripture what simply is not there?

In the following video, clergy from many nations and from many churches, including an Anglican church, gather together to present a proposal to declare Mary as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces, and Advocate of the people of God. Nowhere in Scripture do we see any evidence to support giving Mary such titles which, regardless of what anyone says, truly would and does detract from what only Jesus Christ accomplished for us through His propitiatory sacrifice on the cross, His death, and His glorious resurrection from the dead!

Here are some quotes from previous popes and Catholic leaders concerning the Virgin Mary:

“Who can worthily thank thee and adequately praise thee, O Blessed Virgin, who by thy fiat has saved a lost world.” ~Saint Augustine

“Sinners receive pardon by the intercession of Mary alone.” ~Saint John Chrysostom

“All those who seek Mary’s protection will be saved for all eternity.” ~Pope Benedict XV

“For God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For this is his will, that we obtain everything through Mary.” ~Pope Pius IX, Ubi Primum, 1849

“The Church…been accustomed to have recourse to that most ready intercessor, her Mother Mary…For as Saint Irenaeus says, she “has become the cause of salvation for the whole human race.” ~Pope Paul VI Christi Matri

“In every miracle we must recognize the mediation of Mary, through whom, according to God’s will, every grace and blessing comes to us.” ~Pope Benedict XV

Many of the visionaries who see these alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary exhibit unusual spiritual and physical manifestations, many which can be observed in the world of the occult: translike states, levitation, ecstatic falls into sculpture-like positions in which four doctors could not move them, no response when being pricked with pins, having flashlights being directed into their eyes, not being burned when a match was held momentarily against their hand, “walking forward and backwards over rocky terrain with heads tilted back and eyes looking heavenward” as they were drawn to the presence that called them inwardly to the spot where the apparitions took place; all manifestations that defy natural law. Another common occurrence in many of these apparitions is the appearance of an angel to the visionaries announcing that the Virgin Mary would soon be appearing to them, just like what happened at Fatima. In the video below you will discover what took place at Garabandal, Spain in 1961-1965 when the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared to four young girls over 2,000 times and gave them the following messages, and many more, which do not reflect the truth that can be found in the Biblical gospel that shows Jesus Christ’s once for all sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to pay the debt for our sins in full; no more sacrifices are needed!

“You must make many sacrifices, perform much penance, and visit the Blessed Sacrament frequently. But first, you must lead good lives. If you do not, a chastisement will befall you! The cup is already filling up. If you do not change, a very great chastisement will come upon you.”

“You should turn the wrath of God away from yourselves by your efforts. If you ask His forgiveness with sincere hearts, He will pardon you. I, your mother, through the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel, ask you to amend your lives. I love you very much and do not want your condemnation. Pray to us with sincerity and we will grant your requests. You should make more sacrifices. Think about the passion of Jesus.”

At the 3:23 minute mark, it is stated:

“On July 1962 a significant phenomenon took place between Conchita and the Archangel Michael. This miracle was prophesized two weeks in advance. Conchita received a visible communion host on her tongue from the Archangel, witnessed by hundreds of people. This miracle was chosen to call our attention to the reality of the True Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist.”

While the Catholic church does teach that the bread and the wine literally becomes the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ during the Sacrifice of the Mass (CCC Para 1374), many Christians gave their lives and were burned at the stake rather than to accept that as being true. They knew that to accept this teaching would mean they would not only have to deny the sufficiency of Jesus Christ’s once for all sacrifice, but also they would have to reject the truth revealed in God’s Word that clearly says the following:

“Such a high priest meets our need–one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart for sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” (Hebrews 7:26,27)

“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one, he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:24-28)

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:11,12)

Visionary, Conchita Gonzalez, says the following beginning at the 5:29 minute mark:

“Our Lady did not come just for the people in the village of Garabandal, but rather, she came for the whole world; for all of mankind.”(Again, a message that reveals this entity is attempting to reach everyone –no matter what their religion may be).

Garabandal predicts four supernatural events will take place, and the date they are to happen will be revealed to Conchita eight days in advance:

1) A celestial worldwide warning

2) The great miracle – the sick will be cured and unbelievers will be converted

3) a permanent visible sign will appear and remain until the end of time; a sign that can be photographed and televised but cannot be touched

4) A chastisement

Near the end of this video, the narrator, Ricardo Montalban, has the following to say, which again shows that the messages given during these apparitions are attempting to bring about unity because they are not intended just for Catholics, but to reach and to influence all the people in the world, (as you will see in Part 2 of this series).

“She [the Virgin Mary] clearly wanted all of us to know that we are all her children.”

There has been talk for quite some time now of a “New Pentecost” by many Catholic leaders, and it has also been said that the Virgin Mary will be the one to bring this about:

In the video below you will hear Dr. Miravalle say the following starting at the 6:05 minute mark:

“Well now, we need a new Pentecost. How are we going to get a new Pentecost? We’re going to get a New Pentecost by doing proper tribute to the Mother. By proclaiming the truth about the Mother. By giving the Mother a dogmatic crown… Conceive it this way if you’re a visual person. Think of…a dove entrapped in the Immaculate Heart. Think of our Blessed Mother’s heart and think of a cage in the heart. And think of a dove entrapped in the heart. Now of course the Holy Spirit is divine…of course the Holy Spirit can do what He wants, but in the order of providence…in the order how God has arranged it, the Holy Spirit will not descend until the mother is recognized. So in other words, when the Mother is recognized in the proclamation of the dogma…when she is solemnly pronounced as the Spiritual Mother of all Peoples, then and only then, the Holy Spirit will be freed to mediate through her in bringing the graces of redemption and a new redemption to humanity. To bring the grace of a new Pentecost to humanity.”

“Saint Maximilian, again, is so one in this thought. He says, “The Holy Spirit is the source of all graces. Mary is the instrument of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit acts only through the Immaculata…” So, she is the Mediatrix of each and every grace of the H S. That means when you get the dogma, and my friends, it’s not if, it’s when…when the Holy Father makes a proclamation of the dogma…when that takes place, when the Mother is acknowledged, the Holy Spirit, the cage will be opened, the Holy Spirit, the dove will fly out of the Immaculate heart of Mary and historic graces will come upon a church, the world, in need of these graces by the day.”

As I was continuing my research for this post by listening to many different videos over the past month, I discovered the following video awaiting me yesterday on my YouTube channel among the list of recommended videos for me to watch. Dr. Miravalle opens the video by saying the following:

“You and I must start tapping the supernatural power of our guardian angels.”

Whether you listened to all of what Dr. Miravalle had to say or not, the title of the above video alone should raise some red flags concerning the reliability of Dr. Miravalle’s teachings!

It is my prayer that many of you are now coming to realize by the power of the Holy Spirit, as well as by the evidence in this information that I have shared with you so far, that the Virgin Mary is truly being exalted to a position that is nearly — if not completely — equal with Jesus Christ, God in the flesh by the Roman Catholic Church by giving her titles, and petitioning for titles, that rob Jesus Christ of all the glory that is due to Him alone!

Many of these apparitions have been approved by the Catholic Church because the messages do not conflict with Catholic doctrine. However, if the Catholic church were to test these messages solely against Scripture and not by their “Tradition” that they declare must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments and reverence as Scripture is (CCC Para 80,81,82,95), most of the messages would fail to line up with God’s Word, and instead they would completely contradict it!

The Virgin Mary as revealed in Scripture would never seek for such power, position, and authority that is being expressed in these messages given during these apparitions! There is only one who would, and he has been striving to do so — and to be worshiped — since the beginning of time –Satan! (Isaiah 14:12-15) (Matthew 4:8-11)

(TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2)

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:10-13)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

“Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

“And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

“Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye hath delivered: and many such like things do ye.” (Mark 7:7,9,13)

“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8)

RELATED VIDEOS

Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

Welcome to another post in the category of posts entitled, TEACHING THURSDAY.’ Lord willing, about once a month or so, on Thursdays, I will be posting either a video, an article, or some form of teaching in which a *Biblically sound teacher *(Biblically sound because what they say and teach lines up with the truth of God’s Word, Acts 17:11) will either expose an unbiblical movement, teaching, or a practice that is leading many Christians astray, or present some type of Biblical teaching to help you grow in a deeper understanding of God’s Word on different topics. Some of these teachings may be essentials of the Christian faith, and others may be things that we can debate but not divide over.

It is my hope and prayer that by presenting these teachings to you, many more Christians will not only come to realize the importance of testing the words of men (and women) against the truth of God Word so they will not be deceived, but also it is my hope and prayer that many Christians will come to know the joy of learning God’s Word.

Now on with today’s TEACHING THURSDAY:

I am sure that many of you who are born-again followers of Jesus Christ can say along with me that it can be very heartbreaking and discouraging at times when we try to lovingly warn friends and family members who claim to be Christians of the many spiritually deceptive teachings and practices that are entering many churches these days, only to have them completely reject all that you have to say instead of being willing to listen and to seek God about these things. Countless numbers of churches these days are now presenting yoga classes to those who attend their churches, and therefore it is becoming acceptable to practice yoga if a person is a Christian –in spite of the fact that yoga is rooted in Hinduism, and Hindus themselves say, “There is no Yoga without Hinduism and there is no Hinduism without yoga.” After all, yoga can’t be spiritually dangerous to practice if those in leadership are presenting this at our church, right?

Or how about the Spiritual Formation classes that many churches are offering these days which claim that you will learn how to connect with God throughnew and exciting ways causing your relationship with God to grow deeper and more intimate? Through Contemplative Prayer sessions Christians are told to still their mind and sit in the silence and wait to hear God speak to them. What ever happened to coming to know God and hearing Him speak to us through His Word –the Bible? Have so many Christians been deceived by placing their trust in the leaders of their churches and those who are popular teachers and preachers these days that they have forgotten that we actually have the living Word of God? (Hebrews 4:12) We need nothing more!

Have many Christians also forgotten about the many warnings in Scripture about spiritual deception in the last days and how we are to test the spirits (1 John 4:1) and to examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (by those who teach and preach God’s Word) is true? (Acts 17:11)

How many of you know God’s Word so well that as soon as you hear a pastor or teacher say something just slightly unbiblical you know right away that something is not quite right, and God’s Holy Spirit immediately begins to bring many Scriptures to mind that confirm your suspicions? Yes, there may be times when we as Christians may become deceived for a short season (as I was when I joined a so-called “Bible study” that presented the women with Henry Blackabye’sExperiencing God workbook), but if we continue to test things against Scripture, God will open our eyes to the truth and we will come to realize even more how important it is to constantly testing everything against Scripture and to follow Jesus Christ alone so that we will never be deceived again. He will also use what we have been through to warn others of the importance of reading and studying God’s Word so that they will never be deceived, as well.

When time allows I hope that you will listen to Dave Hunt as he teaches the importance of thinking for yourself and as he shares the many different ways in which Christians are being deceived spiritually because of the various New Age teachings that are now permeating many churches these days.

Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

God Bless You

~Mary/Living4HisGlory

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:3,4)

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-5)

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7: 13-15)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men. after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)

In MYSTICISM MONDAY – THE FINALE, I shared with those of you who read this blog from time to time, that I would be explaining my reasons for bringing that series of posts to an end. While I’m at it I need to tell you that at the end of April I am also bringing an end to the Category entitled, Warning You With Tears Wednesday, although I will probably begin writing more of these posts at a later time –Lord willing. So be watching for a very lengthy Warning You With Tears Wednesday – The Finale – At Least For Now post, later on this month.

And now, here are my important reasons for bringing these posts to an end:

I NEED MORE TIME TO WRITE OTHER POSTS

As I have shared with you many times over the past year or so, Lord willing, I will be writing a post that will be comparing the teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church to the Word of God –the Bible. However, there just never seems to be enough time to finish reading the rest of my 756 page Catechism of the Catholic Church book in order to begin writing it. So, if I have the many hours that it takes to put these Mysticism Monday and Warning You With Tears Wednesday posts together, and devote that time to reading and writing, with God’s help I will be able to finish reading the remaining 290 pages of my CCC book and then begin writing my post and finally have the time to complete it.

Also, because of my new job (that I l♥ve, by the way) which now requires me to work four days a week instead of three, and longer hours, as well, and because of all the other responsibilities that I also have, my time is getting more and more limited, and I don’t have enough time to devote to writing other main posts that I see as extremely important to write and to share with you. I also need to get more sleep than I have been getting lately.

Some of these main posts that I desire to write and to share with you will focus on mysticism, while other posts will focus on extremely important Biblical issues. Therefore, instead of spending many hours on writing Mysticism Monday and Warning You With Tears Wednesday posts, I decided to discontinue writing them so that I can finally begin writing what I see as truly necessary to write at this time!

ADDED 4/9/16 I forgot to mention that I also need some time to go back and update some of my previous posts, as well as time to look for all of the notes that I took while listening to many of Moody Radio’s Midday Connection program (that is no longer on the air), so that I can add these concerns to my post entitled, MOODY RADIO’S MIDDAY CONNECTION PROGRAM – CANCELLED and finally complete it.

THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON FOR BRINGING MYSTICISM MONDAY POSTS TO AN END:

IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO RELY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT AND LEARN TO DISCERN ON YOUR OWN NOW

The main reason that I began writing this series of posts was because I saw an urgent need to speak out in order to wake up the slumbering church. Some Christians simply are not aware of the many spiritually dangerous occult practices that are entering many churches these days because these mystical practices are cloaked in Christian terminology. We as Christians feel that we should be able to trust those who are pastors and teachers, and therefore believe everything that they say. Sadly, however, some pastors and teachers are not to be trusted, and some Christians forget about the many warnings in Scripture concerning false teachers and doctrines of demons, and how our trust should only be in God, and that our main source for truth should always be God’s Word, and not the words of pastors and teachers, or in advise given by mystics of the past –or present.

Because some Christians fail to test things in light of Scripture, they are unknowingly being seduced into the world of the occult by so-called Christian leaders who tell them how they can learn spiritual practices that will help them to connect with God in a very personal and intimate way, and therefore many Christians are being led away from Biblical Christianity!

If it wasn’t for all that I learned from what I went through in the past, not only when I was a Catholic for many years, but also when I dabbled in the world of the occult before I became a Christian, and if it wasn’t for all that I observed during the 16 1/2 years that I attended the Assembly of God church when I saw first-hand how Christian leaders can quickly stray from the truth of God’s Word because they began seeking to have experiences with God and began leading the people in their congregation to do the same, it’s quite possible that I could now be among the many who have been deceived.

However, I learned from all that I went through just how real evil is, and, more importantly, I learned just how powerful and accurate God’s Word is! First, God’s Word revealed Jesus Christ to me, and helped me to clearly see what He truly accomplished through His sinless life, His propitiatory sacrifice, and His triumphant resurrection from the dead by exposing the many false teachings of Catholicism that hid the the glorious good news of the gospel from me and all other precious Catholics. Then, as I began to see many people being enticed into the world of the occult by false signs and wonders, the accuracy of God’s Word concerning the many warnings about false teachers and doctrines of demons made me treasure and value God’s Word more than ever before because I saw spiritual deception play out and deceive many –right before my very eyes!

IN CLOSING

Evil is clearly on the rise, as you can see by reading this article:

How much longer do you think God will be patient with us as a nation that has rejected Him in what seems like every conceivable way possible?! As followers of Jesus Christ we must take our commitment to Him seriously and share His love and truth with others who do not yet know of their need for a Savior and of His love and forgiveness that awaits them if they will only choose to believe the gospel and place their trust in Him, and in Him alone.

Now, it’s time for you, dear Christian, to begin digging deeper into God’s Word and to learn on your own. Allow God’s Holy Spirit to teach you so that you can learn to discern truth from error, and light from darkness.

Please consider reading LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH BLOG to stay informed of the many spiritually deceptive practices and false teachers that you need to be aware of.

No matter who your favorite teachers and writers are, always make sure that you test everything that you listen to and read in light of Scripture to make sure that what is being said is true (Acts 17:11) so that you will not be deceived.

Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

God Bless You

~Mary/Living4HisGlory

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11,12)

“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)

“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:9,10)

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21)

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)

As you can see from the title of this post, this will be the last in the series of posts for Mysticism Monday. Lord willing, I will be explaining why in an upcoming post later on this month.

The information that you will see and hear in the following videos sums up perfectly the many things that I have tried to warn you about in these Mysticism Monday posts. When time allows, I hope that you will watch these videos and pray for discernment so that you will not be deceived by the many ways that spiritually deceptive teachings and practices are infiltrating many churches today, because some of these things may very well be happening in your church!

If you are new to this blog, I hope that you will consider clicking on the Mysticism Monday Category and read some of the previous posts so that you can be aware of the many other things that I have warned about over the past year or so.

The main thing that I try to stress in the things that I write here on my blog is the importance of reading and studying God’s Word so that you will be able to discern a counterfeit form of spirituality from genuine Christianity.

The following videos will show you how the teachings of the New Age — which are now referred to as the New Spirituality — are merging with Christianity and seducing Christians into the world of the occult because of so-called Christian leaders who are encouraging Christians to have experiences with God instead of telling them that the only way to come to know God is by the truth of His Word –the Bible. Please don’t allow yourself to become one of the many Christians who have been deceived and led astray by teachers who claim to be Christian and yet promote these unbiblical spiritual practices!

Here are the video descriptions:

VIDEO 1

A look into the Invasion of the old New Age Movement in today’s Post Modern Church.

VOLUME 1 OF A MULTI-PART SERIES

COVERS THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:

The Counterfeit Church
Biblical Christianity
The Evolving New Age
Christianized New Age Spiritually
The New Age in Media

5 PARTS | 40 MINS EACH | 3 HRS TOTAL

also available in the Europe Shop

VOLUMES 2&3 ALSO AVAILABLE AT WWW.CARYL.TV

VIDEO 2

Continuing from VOLUME 1: A look into the Invasion of the old New Age Movement in today’s Post Modern Church.

VOLUME 3 OF A MULTI-PART SERIES

COVERS THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:

The Holy Spirit Gifts of The Holy Spirit
Five Fold Ministry
Music
God Chasers and Mystery Schools
Mystical Divine Within
Little Gods in the End-Times Battle

7 EPISODES | 2 DISC SET | OVER 5 HRS TOTAL

also available in the Europe Shop

WIDE IS THE GATE VOLUME 1 & 3 ALSO AVAILABLE AT WWW.CARYL.TV

And now for the final Mysticism Monday:

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:13-23)

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11,12)

Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

Have you unknowingly been lured into New Age mystical practices by teachers claiming that certain “new ways to pray” will bring you closer to God? Have you signed up for classes in Spiritual Formation, or has your pastor been preaching on it? Have you been involved in “Christian“ Yoga, Centering Prayer, Contemplative Prayer, or Lectio Divina? Well, this series of posts in the new Category of posts that I have entitled, ‘MYSTICISM MONDAYS,‘ will attempt to not only peel back the layers of the many forms of spiritual deception that have been entering the church in order to reveal them to you as being lies of the enemy of our souls, but also the intention of these posts is to present you with the truth of God’s Word in order to expose the spiritual dangers of these practices.

Lord willing, at least once a month on a Monday, I will be sharing teachings with you from Christian experts on the subject, some of whom have even been personally involved with these dangerous practices. All of these teachings that I will be presenting to you will focus on many Scriptures; those who speak on these topics will not just be talking about these practices, because it’s only the truth of God’s Word that will expose the dangers of these practices and set a deceived person free.

Lord willing, when time allows, I will be writing many posts in the future zeroing in on specific Christian programming and Christian teachers who are promoting these deceptive practices, (I recently posted a very lengthy one concerning Moody Radio which I will continue to update when time allows until completed) but since my time is getting rather limited these days because of other important responsibilities that I now have, I will oftentimes simply be sharing a video or an article with you.

When time allows, I truly hope and pray that you will take the time to listen to these messages or read these articles, as well as read the upcoming posts that — Lord willing — I will be writing on these important topics so that you can be aware of these false teachings that are deceiving many Christians –possibly even you!

Please be sure that you test the teachings of all those whom you listen to against Scripture as God’s Word shows us that we are to do (Acts 17:11) so that you will never be deceived.

I hope and pray that all of you who are Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ are constantly testing what your pastors and teachers are presenting to you against the truth of God’s Word as we are shown in Scripture to do (Acts 17:11) no matter how long they have been in ministry, because many pastors and teachers are now embracing and presenting New Age mystical practices to their people through things such as yoga, as well as though meditation practices which often times are found in Spiritual Formation classes and are referred to as Contemplative Prayer, silent prayer, Lectio Divina, Taize, etc.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

Mysticism in the church is one of the many ways that Satan is now using to bring about the oneness and unity that is being promoted in the world to bring about the One World Religion. Sadly, many pastors and teachers lack discernment and have now become tools in Satan’s hands to promote these mystical practices. We must keep in mind what God says in His Word:

“Be sober; be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Are you a follower of a man (or woman) and their ministry? Or are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Will you be a Berean and examine the Scriptures daily to see if what they are saying is true? Will you walk in the light and in truth and leave, if necessary, if Yoga and other mystical practices are being promoted at your church? Or are the relationships that you have developed over the years while you have attended your church more important to you than being obedient to God and the truth presented in His Word? True followers of Jesus Christ will follow Him –no matter what the cost.

“For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.” (2 Corinthians 2:9)

Now for today’s Mysticism Monday:

Roger Oakland of UNDERSTAND THE TIMES, and Pastor Chris Quintana of CALVARY CHAPEL CYPRESS discuss End Times from a Biblical perspective. They also address the fact how many Christians are unaware of what is taking place in the name of Christianity and how we all need to wake up. Contemplative Prayer, the Emergent Church, doctrines of demons, and many more things are discussed. Lord willing, I will continue to add any new programs they do in this series to the Playlist that I have added for you below).

“People are following after ideas, after men and their methods, rather than following after God…” ~Roger Oakland

“I can’t tell you how many times, even like he [Roger Oakland] has mentioned kind of the mysticism that really is so entrenched in a lot of the old liturgical, the older denominations, are now making their way into the mainstream and people who should know better are falling into it incrementally…” ~Pastor Chris Quintana

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-5)

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

Have you unknowingly been lured into New Age mystical practices by teachers claiming that certain “new waysto pray” will bring you closer to God? Have you signed up for classes in Spiritual Formation, or has your pastor been preaching on it? Have you been involved in “Christian“Yoga, Centering Prayer, Contemplative Prayer, or Lectio Divina? Well, this series of posts in the new Category of posts that I have entitled, ‘MYSTICISM MONDAYS,‘ will attempt to not only peel back the layers of the many forms of spiritual deception that have been entering the church in order to reveal them to you as being lies of the enemy of our souls, but also the intention of these posts are to present you with the truth of God’s Word in order to expose the spiritual dangers of these practices.

Lord willing, at least once a month on a Monday, I will be sharing teachings with you from Christian experts on the subject, some of whom have even been personally involved with these dangerous practices.

All of these teachings that I will be presenting to you will focus on many Scriptures; those who speak on these topics will not just be talking about these practices, because it’s only the truth of God’s Word that will expose the dangers of these practices and set a deceived person free.

Lord willing, when time allows, I will be writing many posts in the future zeroing in on specific Christian programming and Christian teachers who are promoting these deceptive practices, (One coming very soon –Lord willing) but since my time is getting rather limited these days because of other important responsibilities that I now have, I will oftentimes simply be sharing a video or an article with you that is filled with important information for you.

When time allows, I truly hope and pray that you will take the time to listen to these messages and read the upcoming articles and posts on these important topics so that you can be aware of these false teachings that are deceiving many Christians –possibly even you.Please be sure that you test the teachings of all those whom you listen to against Scripture as God’s Word shows us that we are to do (Acts 17:11) so that you will never be deceived.

I hope and pray that all of you who are Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ are constantly testing what your pastors and teachers are presenting to you against the truth of God’s Word as we are shown in Scripture to do (Acts 17:11) no matter how long they have been in ministry, because many pastors and teachers are now embracing and presenting New Age mystical practices to their people through things such as yoga, as well as though meditation practices which often times are found in Spiritual Formation classes and are referred to as Contemplative Prayer, silent prayer, Lectio Divina, Taize, etc.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

Mysticism in the church is one of the many ways that Satan is now using to bring about the oneness and unity that is being promoted in the world to bring about the One World Religion. Sadly, many pastors and teachers lack discernment and have now become tools in Satan’s hands to promote these mystical practices. We must keep in mind what God says in His Word:

“Be sober; be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Are you a follower of a man (or woman) and their ministry? Or are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Will you be a Berean and examine the Scriptures daily to see if what they are saying is true? Will you walk in the light and in truth and leave, if necessary, if Yoga and other mystical practices are being promoted at your church? Or are the relationships that you have developed over the years while you have attended your church more important to you than being obedient to God and the truth presented in His Word? True followers of Jesus Christ will follow Him –no matter what the cost.

“For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.” (2 Corinthians 2:9)

I hope and pray that you will guard yourselves and your precious children and leave your church if yoga and mystical practices are being promoted and taught at your church before you and your loved ones are led into spiritual deception!

Lord willing, in future posts I will be going into greater depth concerning the pastors who are promoting Spiritual Formation (such as Rick Warren of Saddle Back Church and Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Church), and I will also be warning you about some of the other writers and speakers who are teaching these things.

UPDATE: As I mentioned to you in a few previous posts, I am in the process of writing a very detailed post concerning Mysticism, but due to certain circumstances I still have not had sufficient time to complete it. I spent over five hours working on it yesterday, and it is very close to being fully completed. However, I don’t think I will be able to finish it until after Christmas. So in the mean time, for today’s Mysticism Monday, in order to continue to inform you and warn you of how New Age mysticism is entering many churches today, here is a quick capture of an article that I just found due to watching the video that you will find under Related Videos further below. (CAUTION! The portion with the baby is very disturbing).

And now for today’s Mysticism Monday:

It’s no surprise to many of us that T D Jakes could promote the practice of Yoga for Christians since we know very well that he has been teaming up with Oprah quite frequently over the years:

In the following article that T D Jakes wrote, he sees the level of a Christian’s maturity as being the determining factor whether they can practice yoga by saying the following:

“However, if I am a Christian then the fact that I do yoga to enhance my physical condition, or meditate to help me clear my mind, do not change my beliefs in Christianity or remove or weaken my faith. My primary concern only lies with wondering if new Christians are adept at discerning where breathing and meditation end and a newfound religion begins. Like many things in life, perhaps the answer lies in each individual’s ability to have boundaries that are adjusted to his or her maturity level as a Christian.”

Here is his article:

If one takes the time to listen to the following presentation on Yoga (that I have already shared here a few times before), you will hear how it is rooted in Hinduism and discover that there is no way that the practice of yoga can be separated from the religion of Hinduism, and therefore is not compatible with Christianity.

“Yoga poses alone lead to the religious experience of union with the divine which is a direct denial of the Biblical binary, and is the heart of pagan spirituality .” (28:43 minute mark)

I hope and pray that God will open T D Jakes’s understanding so that he will realize he is promoting doctrines of demons, because if he does not repent and correct his standing on this practice publicly, he will be held accountable for all those whom he is leading astray by endorsing this pagan practice. And this is a very clear example of why it is so very important for us to ‘examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (by those who claim to speak for God) is true.’ (Acts 17:11)

Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

God Bless You

~Mary/Living4HisGlory

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:13)

“When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise.” (Deuteronomy 12:29-30)

“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” (1 Corinthians 10:21)

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20,21)

Welcome to another post in the series of posts that I have entitled, Warning You With Tears Wednesdays. Lord willing, at least once a month on Wednesdays I will be writing and sharing one of these posts with you so that I can make you all aware of some important information that I come across on the Internet that you may not have heard about.

Since I knew that I would soon be starting a new job (and I did last month) and that my free time would then be somewhat limited, I was trying to think of something that I could write on a regular basis that would be short and to the point (at least that was my intention). And since I am a detective-at-heart and desire to make you all aware of the importance of testing things that pastors and teachers say (and do) in light of Scripture (Acts 17:11), the idea to do these posts — as well as the name — came to my mind in November of 2014, based on Acts 20:26-31:

“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.”

So with all of that in mind, here is what I’d like to share with you in today’s WARNING YOU WITH TEARS WEDNESDAY:

You’d be aghast at the > LIST OF SPEAKERS < at this ‘Parliament of the WorldReligions’ that Brian McLaren is speaking at, in light of one of my previous post that I just finished writing:

The speakers include the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism who is the 14th Dalai Lama, a former Roman Catholic nun, Chief Arvol Runninghorse, as well as a New Thought minister, a rabbi, a Hindu author and environmental justice activist, the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine –Jim Wallis, and many others. You can read more about this gathering at the following link:

As stated in the link above, one of the speakers at this Global Interfaith Movement gathering is Marrianne Williamson. Many of you are probably not aware of who she is — unless, of course you have seen her on Oprah. If so, then you are also aware of her book A Return To Love, as well as the book that she strongly promoted on Oprah and continues to promote, called, ‘A Course in Miracles.’ This book was written by Helen Schucman, a Columbia University professor who wrote this book over a span of seven years after hearing a voice — claiming to be Jesus Christ — say to her,

“This is a Course in Miracles. Please take notes.”

Here are some of the things that this Jesus of the Course in Miracles teaches:

“God did not create the world.”

“We are all equally Christ.”

“Jesus is not the only Son of God.”

“My salvation comes from me.”

“There is no sin, no evil, and no devil, and “God is “in” everyone and everything.”

This course states:

“This is a course in mind training” and is dedicated to thought reversal.” (SOURCE – VIDEO SERIES BELOW)

When time allows, please watch these videos to learn about the many messages from this Jesus whose words contradict God’s Word in many blasphemous ways, so that you are aware of the many spiritually deceptive teachings that are attempting to destroy Christianity:

Now maybe you understand a little better why so many Christians are warning about Sarah Young‘s bookJesus Calling, because she claims to have written her book in a very similar way. Below you will see a “quick capture” from a portion of an interview that Sarah Young did with CBN in which she said that her inspiration to write Jesus Calling was a ‘devotional’ with a similar title —God Calling. For your information, this book was written back in the 1930s by two anonymous women who simply called themselves “two listeners.” That “devotional” book was very popular in the 1980’s when I first became a Christian and it was sold at the book store of the Assembly of God Church that I once attended. Because I dabbled in the occult before I was a Christian, and attempted to contact the spirits through automatic writing, I knew very well that the book God Calling was not a Christian book! Here’s an excerpt from God Calling:

“But with my friend a very wonderful thing happened. From the first, beautiful messages were given to her FROM THE LORD HIMSELF, and every day from then these messages have never failed us. We felt all unworthy and overwhelmed by the wonder of it, and could hardly realize that we were being taught, trained and encouraged day by day BY HIM PERSONALLY,when millions of souls who are far worthier, had to be content with guidance from the Bible,sermons, their Churches, books and other sources.” (God Calling” Page 11-12 ) (Emphasis in red is mine).

Can you see the danger in reading devotionals like God Calling and Jesus Calling? They are considered to be new revelations by Jesus Christ Himself! This will lead many Christians to abandon the true Word of God — The Bible — for counterfeit words from a counterfeit Jesus!

Although Sarah Young accurately states that “the Bible is the only infallible record of God speaking,”and also gives some Biblical advise in her “cautions” below, she fails to recognize the fact that this practice mirrors the occult practice of automatic writing. She also misinterprets Psalm 46:10 as many who promote Contemplative Prayer often do. (See article under Further Reading).

As you will discover in the following article and the videos below, SarahYoungalso fails to test the spirits — as well as the messages from this Jesus — in light of Scripture. This information is also for those of you who have requested Book Reviews:

Here is some very detailed information by Warren B Smith concerning the messages that Sarah Young claims to have received from Jesus which were written down and recorded in her extremely popular Jesus Calling devotionals which have sold millions.

Warren has been a Christian for many years, but he was once deeply involved in the New Age Movement. He now writes books and speaks at many Christian Conferences so that he can warn Christians about Contemplative Prayer, Spiritual Formation, Yoga, and many other ways in which the New Age Movement has made its way into the church. Because these New Age/New Spirituality practices are cloaked in somewhat Christian terminology they are deceiving many people. That is why it is so extremely important for us as Christians to “examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (and done) is true.” (Acts 17:11)

I’m sorry that I have to remind you of what you may be trying to shove to the back of your mind, but…summer is quickly coming to an end, which also means that your children will soon be going back to school. To some of you that may be good news. To others, the thought of them going back to school makes you sad because you thoroughly enjoy spending all that extra time with your children. Whatever the case may be, I am sure that all of you deeply love and care about your children. So here are a few things that you truly need to be aware of concerning what is happening in many schools these days so you can warn your children, and know what to look for when school does start:

The following article is filled with the most disturbing information that I came across recently, and it truly reveals the hardness of heart and the blindness to sin that many have today. Reading things like the following article should truly makes a Christian realize the awfulness of sin and the immense patience and mercy of God:

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Please pray for God to open the eyes of those involved in the abortion industry which involves not only the brutal destruction of thousands of precious unborn babies, but also the manipulation and devastation of many women who are emotionally and physically damaged by how they are treated and what they observe during the abortion process.

Please also pray for the women who have chosen or will choose to have abortions, that they will find forgiveness and healing through Jesus Christ. Pray that God will one day use these women for His glory to let their stories be told to stop other women from making the wrong choice, and that these women would choose life instead.

Pray for the women who are now contemplating having an abortion, that they will have a change of heart after coming across information that will show them the humanity of their child within their womb. Pray that they will connect with one of the many online support groups that help women through the whole course of their pregnancy, such as ONLINE FOR LIFE. (Click HERE to listen to the stories of the many women who chose life, and even the story of one young woman who regretfully did not).

Some organizations will even help arrange for a woman’s baby to be adopted into a loving family if they choose to give their baby up. Many women who choose to make this difficult choice do so out of a desire to do what’s best for their child.

This is a time when we should not judge these women, but instead we must reach out with the love of Jesus Christ and help them in the midst of their situation so that they will see hope in what may appear to them as a hopeless and very frightening situation.

One thing is for sure. So far, this year has been the darkest one spiritually as we continue to observe the hearts of mankind growing harder and more wicked, and so outright rebellious against a thrice Holy God! It makes many of us who are Christians stop and wonder:

“How long, O Lord, will You continue to be patient and wait until You gather those of us who have placed their trust in Your Son’s finished work on the cross to Yourself, and then begin to pour out Your wrath on an unrepentant world?”

If you have not yet come to the point of realizing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior — as we all are — I pray that your eyes would soon be opened to realize the truth. I pray that with godly sorrow in your heart because of all the wrong that you have done against a completely God, you would turn from your sins to Him, and live in such a way that it will bring glory and honor to Him for all that He did to set you free from the bondage of sin.

SCRIPTURES TO REFLECT ON

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned. As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:3-9)

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

Welcome to another post in a new category of posts entitled, ‘SERMON SUNDAY.’ Lord willing, at least a few times a month I will share a timely sermon with you by a well respected teacher or preacher who focuses on an important truth in Scripture in order to awaken the slumbering church, and also to alert Christians to the importance of reading and studying God’s Word. It may be a short sermon in written form, or I may present something to you in video form. I pray that when time allows, you will take the time to read or to listen to what I will be sharing with you.

I also hope to share some expository preaching with you in the near future, but sadly, that is a very rare thing to find these days. I’m sure that many of you can attest to that undeniable fact. Sadly, many pastors today who seek to grow their churches oftentimes resort to distorting God’s Word either by taking a verse out of context or by interjecting their own ideas into the text to make it say what they want a verse of Scripture to say (eisegesis).

Sometimes a pastor will even go as far as to manipulate Scriptures in such a way so that they can preach about themselves (narcissistic eisegesis).

Then there are some pastors who just present watered down messages with very little Biblical content, and others who ‘preach’ controversial messages that will appeal to today’s culture in order to attract more people. Then they will continue ‘preaching’ these types of messages in order to entertain the crowd to keep them coming, rather than preaching God’s Word as they are instructed to do in order to feed and equip the sheep/saints and to expose the sin in men’s hearts so that God will grant them repentance and lead them to a knowledge of the truth.

My main goal in presenting these sermons to you is to point you to Jesus Christ and to make you realize the extreme importance of studying God’s Word and testing the teachings of everyone you listen to in light of Scripture.

Maybe you are one of those people who faithfully stand for Biblical truth and you recently had to leave your church because of what has been taking place as you have witnessed your pastor slowly drift from Biblical truth. Or maybe you left your church many years ago and you still haven’t found a church where the pastor preaches from God’s Word. If so, I have all of you in mind when posting these teachings and videos, as well. I hope that everyone who somehow finds there way here will be blessed and encouraged by the many Biblical teachings that I will be sharing with you in the weeks and months ahead –Lord willing.

Now for today’s SERMON SUNDAY:

In the following sermon, Pastor Chris Quintana, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Cypress, preaches verse by verse through 1 Timothy Chapter 4, focusing on the qualifications of overseers, as well as the conduct of godly Christian leaders. Before he begins, he shares a very short review of his teaching on Chapter 3 from last week.

When time allows, grab yourself a refreshing bottle of water or a glass of cold lemonade, etc., sit down and get comfortable, and open your Bible to 1 Timothy 4, and follow along as you listen to his message. As you listen, see how your pastor compares to the qualifications that God has set forth in His Word concerning what the character and conduct of a godly leader should be like.

Here’s the portion of Scripture that Pastor Chris Quintana will be preaching on:

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4)

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)

“Now I know that none of you among of whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So, be on your guard! Remember thatfor three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:25-31)

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

If you’d like to visit his Calvary Church Cypress website, you can do so by clickingHERE.

I will be posting more of his sermons and teachings in the near future, so if you’re interested, you can check back here from time to time. Chris Quintana is one of few Pastors and teachers today who not only has a high view of Scripture, but also he is one among very few pastors today who exposes the many false teachings that are entering the church today and leading many Christian astray.

As I often say in my posts: Please make sure that you test his teachings — as well as the teachings of everyone that you listen to, no matter how long they have been in ministry — against the truth of God’s Word to see if what is being said is true (Acts 17:11), so that you will never be led astray.

Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your relaxing weekend (at least I hope it was) to read some of my posts and poems.

Welcome to another post in a new series of posts that I will be doing (Lord willing) at least once a month on Wednesdays so that I can make you all aware of some important information that I come across on the Internet that you may not have heard about. I have been trying to think of something that I could write on a regular basis that would be short and to the point (at least I’ll try to be), and since I am a detective-at-heart and desire to make you all aware of the importance of testing things that pastors and teachers say (and do) in light of Scripture (Acts 17:11), the idea to do these posts — as well as the name — came to my mind in November of 2014, based on Acts 20:26-31:

“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.”

So with that in mind, here is what I’d like to share with you in today’s WARNING YOU WITH TEARS WEDNESDAY:

In light of what is taking place in many churches today in the name of ‘Spiritual Formation,’ this is certainly a real possibility of how to interpret Matthew 24:5, and I would definitely consider it to be: THE ULTIMATE NEW AGE DECEPTION– (Lighthouse Trails Research)

When I first became a Christian in 1980 I learned that occult messages were inserted into many songs, and even though you couldn’t audibly hear the occult messages when played normally, the messages were said to still be implanted into a person’s subconscious mind. Through a technique called ‘backwards masking,’ alternative sounds can be created and heard when the audio is played forwards and backwards. If a song was played forwards you would hear one message, and if the same song was played backwards, you could actually hear an occultic message! Here’s a video on the subject with an explanation given by a very young Pastor Joe Schimmel:

These days, however, they don’t have to resort to backwards masking. Now you can hear many of the blatantly occultic messages simply by listening to them played normally! Below is one I found after I saw something about “CYBER” that was randomly generated on Facebook as something they thought I might be interested in checking out. When I did a ‘search’ thinking it was a new movie, what I discovered instead was the following video. Be warned! Parents, please check out what your kids and teens are listening to, because this type of high-energy, electronic music that excites the brain and shuts down the thinking process is used at many music festivals to subliminally indoctrinate our youth, as you will hear in this video:

And in this video, of ‘Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike 2014 Live at Tomorrowland,’ when time allows, consider listening mainly to what is said concerning “unity” and “illumination” to the crowd at the very beginning of the video until the 2:15 minute mark. I do not like posting videos like this on my blog, but I found that it was necessary for you to see exactly what takes place at some of these music festivals. Be warned! If you continue to watch, you will hear many obscenities and observe drinking lines where alcohol is given to everyone to drink as they become entranced by the music, unaware of the new age occult messages that are beginning to reshape their thinking and their world view:

Here’s a very detailed Christian review of these Tomorrowland music festivals:

As you will soon see, the evil in this one is quite obvious and very disturbing!

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, — thank you very much if you are — then you have probably read some of the many posts that I have written in order to alert all of you to the fact that mysticism is entering the church in many different forms (more posts to come on the subject, by the way), and I will continue to speak out and expose these false teachings because I will not be part of: The Silent Church And The “Gospel” of the New Spirituality – (Lighthouse Trails Research) – The article was written by Warren B Smith who is one of my favorite Christian authors and speakers. (Lord willing, I hope to do some book reviews later this year on some of his books that I have, as well as other books that I have purchased, all of which I have not had the time to read yet because of how hectic my life has been lately). You can read some of Warren Smith’s very good articles filled with important information concerning things you really need to be aware of HERE).

Some of you may have read my post, THE SEDUCTION OF THE SUPERNATURAL – DO NOT BE DECEIVED, in which I shared the frightening account of what happened to me after I began to get involved with the occult before I became a Christian. I shared how my involvement began by reading books written by occultists who were able to get in touch with spirits through the practice of ‘automatic writing’ and how I attempted to do that but failed (thankfully) to receive any messages. I went on to share with you how I also began ‘playing’ with a Ouija board and went into detail concerning the frightening things that not only happened to me as a result of playing this so-called ‘game,’ but also the frightening things that I observed one day as I played it, and what I came to realize after becoming a Christian and repenting of taking part in those occult activities; occult practices that God warns us against in His Word! Well, to get to the point, two weeks ago I began to see many people on Facebook posting about something very similar to a Ouija board that is also being presented as a ‘game,’ and I wanted to warn all of you about it so that you can be sure to warn your children in the hope that they will stay away from it, because I can see this game being played at ‘sleepover parties,’ just as occult type games were played at the sleepover parties that I went to when I was young and didn’t know any better. The ‘game’ is called CHARLIE, CHARLIEand it’s a “Ouija board-like challenge that has youth trying to summon a demon.” (Posted by Berean Research. Article written by Marsha West).

Pope Francis’ diabolical deceptive statement blaming the devil for Keeping Evangelicals and Roman Catholics Divided– (Lighthouse Trails Research) As a former Catholic who attended twelve years of Catholic school and went through Catechism classes and attended many thousands of masses, and who came to understand the true gospel by reading a Catholic New Testament, I can tell you that it’s: standing for Biblical truth without compromising in any way and rejecting the false teachings of Catholicism that is keeping Evangelicals and Roman Catholics divided! There can be no unity with those who preach another Jesus and another gospel! Lord willing, in the Fall I hope to be finished writing the post that I started working on that focuses on this subject, and I will then share it with you. The title of this post will be:

ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD…OR THE WORD OF MAN? — A COMPARISON OF GOD’S WORD, THE BIBLE, WITH THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Catholics are taught that when the Pope speaks ex-cathedra (from the chair), that his teachings on faith and morals are infallable, butIs The Pope Infallible? (‘Got Questions’ posted this on Facebook).

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) However, many people are being deceived in so many ways by being told false information on how a person can enter heaven. Including PURCHASING A GOLDEN TICKET THAT YOU CAN SHOW AT THE PEARLY GATES (Saw this story posted on Facebook. – Article – KDON radio).

I’ll end all of these disturbing warnings with something good, so that I can point all of you to God and give Him glory, for He is SO worthy to be praised!

How can any person continue to deny the existence of God after learning how each part of the human body functions? Just read this article about the EYE. It gives so much evidence that each of us has been created by an amazing Designer who pays such careful attention to every single detail!

RELATED SCRIPTURES

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerades as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11:14,15)

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)

“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed . They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” (Acts 19:13-20)

“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, You saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

If there’s one thing we can rely on these days in spite of the fact that our world is changing so drastically, it’s the ‘unchanging’ nature of God and the ‘unchanging’ truth of God’s Word –the Bible (though I must add that ‘The Message’ and ‘The Voice’ translations are excluded as being ‘God’s Word’ because of the ‘new age’ terminology and the distortions of Scriptures presented in these versions).

Sadly, however, many of us who are true Christians — born of the Spirit of God — are also seeing many of our once strong and committed pastors and teachers beginning to change, as well. And these changes are not for the better! Instead of a pastor focusing on the importance of his role to ‘preach the Word’ of God and to ‘equip the saints’ and trust God to grow the church as He has always been faithful to do in the past, they have been led into falling for worldly strategies of growing the church by non-Christians such as Peter Drucker. Rather than ‘contending for the faith’ they now are not only uniting with some pastors and teachers (who many have serious concerns about) at conferences, but also they are placing some of these ‘pastors’ in their own pulpits!

Some are even involving themselves with unbiblical, and even demonic, mystical, spiritual practices such as ‘breath prayers,’ ‘contemplative prayer,’ ‘visualization techniques,’ –occultic practices often cloaked in Christian terminology claiming to allow the ‘Christian’ to ‘hear from God‘ or to ‘connect with God on a deeper, more intimate level.’ (Much more on this in an upcoming post —Lord willing). God’s Word is no longer seen as the way to hear from God…now it’s all about ‘experiences.’ But to those who are not cautious and who fail to continually test things in light of Scripture, these techniques will lure them in and lead them astray.

How could it be that so many pastors and teachers are going astray? Is it for the love of money, position, or power? A ‘mid-life crisis’ maybe? What sin is at the root of all these serious changes we are seeing?

Is it pride that has caused many of them to close their ears to not only the pleadings of their people to disassociate with certain pastors, but also to the legitimate and serious concerns their people are expressing to them?

God’s Word gives us a picture of the condition that this world will be in before the return of Christ, as well as Scriptures that give an alarmingly accurate picture of ‘Christianity’ today. Here are just a few of them:

“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” (Luke 21:10,11)

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3,4)

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there be a falling away first…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)

**UPDATED MON. 2-17-14 6:20p.m.** May I suggest to you that the reason many of us are seeing pastors and teachers who once strongly stood for Biblical truth without wavering, is because many are choosing to –compromise. Take for instance, Pastor Greg Laurie. When he preached a sermon he always gave a clear gospel presentation complete with making each listener understand they must be willing to repent; to turn from sin and follow Christ, and I believe he still does. However, there are other things Greg Laurie is doing that gives many of us valid reasons to be concerned. I’ll share one example with you that I found out from speaking to a person I met on the Internet who leftGreg Laurie’s church. This person told me at the end of 2012 that they “saw signs of spiritual formation in junior high and up.”

If you are not aware of what Spiritual Formation is, I highly recommend this article (and all the articles) by Pastor Gary Gilley– SPIRITUAL FORMATION

Below is a portion of that article that explains the philosophy of Spiritual Formation:

“The Spiritual Formation Movement is concerned more about individual experience than biblical knowledge or truth. This does not mean that adherents are totally uninterested in the Bible, and some would know it well. But the emphasis is on what a person experiences through the Bible more so than what they learn. Contemplatives, such as Dallas Willard and Richard Foster, will strongly encourage Bible reading and prayer but they mean something different from what most Christians mean when they reference the same terms. As we will see in future articles, contemplative prayer is not the same as prayer defined biblically; “sacred reading” (also called “lectio divina” of Scripture is not the same as Bible study; meditation (mystically encountering God) is not the same as knowing God and so forth. Many of the same terms are used, but as the classical liberals, and the more recent emergents, are fond of doing, they take our terms, including biblical ones, and give them new definitions and twists.”

Now back to what I was saying about Greg Laurie: When I first became a Christian and didn’t yet have a full-time job, I would eagerly get up early every morning to hear him preach on the radio instead of sleeping for an extra hour or so. Never did I think the day would come when he would give in to compromise! However…one day when I got up in the morning and turned on my computer, I saw the following video on YouTube:

Here is the late Pastor Chuck Smith (who sadly, also gave in to compromise) introducing Rick Warren as his “good friend” at —Greg Laurie’s Harvest Crusade in 2009:

For those of you who are still unaware of the serious concerns that many of us have with Rick Warren, I urge you to watch this video that I added to many of my other posts, as well, because of the detailed and very important information this video contains on Rick Warren:

**ADDED 2-17-14**And then there’s Francis Chan. I never heard of him before until my former pastor, James MacDonald, recommended his book ‘Crazy Love‘ one Sunday during his sermon. I did a ‘search’ on him that day to find out who he was, and at first he just seemed like a very humble man who desired to wholeheartedly seek after God and live an extremely simple life in order to give to the poor. However, as time went on he began to get involved in promoting the unbiblical practice of ‘Lectio Divina‘ along with Lecrae, Beth Moore, Louie Giglio, and John Piper at the Passion 2012 Conference. After reading portions of Ephesians, each speaker would stop and say things like this:

Beth Moore: “Without any comment, please, let’s pause and be still and ask Jesus to speak His Word to us.” Let’s pause, be still, and let God’s Word speak to us.”

Lecrae: “Pause, reflect, and hear from the Lord.”

John Piper: “Let’s be quiet and ask the Lord to speak.”

You can’t see it in the video above, but at this conference they had a banner in the background that said “Jesus, speak to me.” In my search to document that for you, I came across the following, thanks to Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries:

Didn’t God’s Word already speak to them? They just read the whole book of Ephesians out loud, so for them to say to “Be still, and let God’s Word speak” seems to imply they are desiring to hear more than what can be learned by examining the passage of Scripture in context to see what God already said to us through His Word in this particular book, this one being Ephesians. Though God may speak to someone on extremely rare occasions, they are presenting this as a normative practice to be embraced by all Christians. Everything God wants us to know has already been recorded in His Word, the Bible, and Jesus was God’s final Word to us:

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3a)

Also, I had heard that there were some who attended Passion 2012 who left there doubting their salvation because they didn’t hear Jesus personally speak to them. It was mainly because of what Louie Giglio said to them at this conference. Once again, in my search to find what Louie Giglio actually said so I could share it with you, I found that on the same post by Ken Silva. These are the words of Louie Giglio at the close of session 5:

“How many of you heard the voice of God speak specifically, clearly, directly, and personally, to you? Can you just put a hand up? I’d like you to share it. Can you put a hand up for a minute?

Just want you to look around; that’s people saying, “God Almighty (pause) the Maker of heaven (pause) the one Who’s sitting on the only throne (pause) that’s not under threat (long pause, audience cheers) –He spoke to me. He spoke to me.”

“God spoke to me.” (long pause) Don’t let the voice of the darkness, tell you that you are not (pause) worth (pause) that God would not speak to you. (pause) Don’t let him tell you, you don’t matter. (pause) God spoke to you.” (SOURCE) Apprising Ministries

Then, to make matters even worse, on December 30, 2013, Francis Chan chose to take part in an event at IHOP (International House Of Prayer), where he openly praised its leader, Mike Bickle, thus giving credibility to Mike BickleandIHOP. If you are not aware of the unbiblical teachings of Mike Bickle, as well as the unscriptural manifestations and even deadly things that have taken place within this movement, I strongly urge you to watch this video and read the articles below it:

When we as Christians — especially pastors — consider getting involved with another pastor, teacher, or a movement claiming to be ‘Christian,’ we have the God-given responsibility of testing everything in light of Scripture (Acts 17:11, 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22) and we also need to seriously consider the warnings of those who know more than we may know about a certain person or movement, and check it out before choosing to get involved. But sadly, as you can hear in the very beginning of the video I posted above, Francis Chanignored the warnings he received and chose to publicly proclaim to those in attendance at that IHOP event, the following:

“This is the first time I’ve ever been to an IHOP event. Which is..it’s kinda crazy to me because I didn’t know that much, and, you know, so I kinda went on the Internet and started looking things up and, I go ‘man there’s a lot of great things going on here. ‘ And today’s was the first time I ever met Mike Bickle, and, I love that guy. I do.

There’s people that told me not to…hang out with him. Like, you know, you know, words like creepy come up and yet I get to know this guy and I’m going, “Man I love his heart.” And I just want to publicly say, I love Mike Bickle.”

Then there’s Mega-pastors, Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in Charlotte N. Carolina, and Perry Noble of Newspring Church in S. Carolina. Both of whom my former pator, James MacDonald, is deeply involved with. I’ll start with Steven Furtick.

INFORMATION CONCERNING STEVEN FURTICK:

As I shared with you in my >WARNING YOU WITH TEARS< post, StevenFurtick took James MacDonald’s place in the pulpit on August 14, 2011 when James was on his summer break. Steven Furtick was also one of the pastors who took part in the ‘Elephant Room Conference,’ an idea that James MacDonald had that could have turned into something good, but instead ended in disaster. (You can also read about that on the previously mentioned post). I had never heard of Steven Furtick before all of that took place, so I cannot comment on how he was when he first started out, but I can share with you what is presently happening that many find rather disturbing. Below is something I again found posted by someone on Twitter. You can find this posted on Elevation Church’s Website. Read all the points below and see if you find some of their reasons just a little bit disturbing as many other people do –including me:

Just now (1:47p.m. 2-19-14) I found the above picture through a tweet on Twitter by ‘Stand Up For The Truth.’ This is an illustration from a coloring book at ‘Elevation Church‘ called ‘The Code,’ in which it appears that at a very early age, the children — along with the adults at ‘Elevation Church‘ — are learning that:

“Elevation Church is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven.” And that Elevation Church “will protect our unity in supporting his vision.”

I don’t know about you, but I find this rather creepy and downright disturbing! SOURCE

There’s so much information coming out on Twitter concerning Steven Furtick and Elevation Church that I’m finding it hard to keep up! Here’s something else for you to take a close look at; ‘The Code‘ for Elevation Kidz that Steven Furtick wants them all to learn:

1. We are a generation of honor

2. We act in audacious faith

3.We eat the fish and leave the bones

4. We are known for what we are for

5. We lead the way in generosity

Don’t you find it rather concerning that Jesus isn’t even mentioned in the Kidz Code?

STEVEN FURTICK ADDRESSING ELEVATION CHILDREN TO LEARN ‘THE CODE’

Just searched YouTube and found this precious little girl, Isabella, who seems to know ‘the code’ quite well:

Please pray for the children and families at Elevation Church. One can only hope and pray that the children at ‘Elevation‘ are learning that our lives should be built upon Christ and His Word as our solid foundation! (Matthew 7:24-27) (1 Corinthians 3:10,11) Somehow by all this new information, I am finding it very hard to believe, because the focus clearly is more on Steven Furtick and Elevation Church rather than on Jesus Christ and His Word.

Here are two more“creepy,” things that I heard concerning Steven Furtick and Elevation Church while listening to Chris Rosebrough of Fighting For The Faith:

IN THE VIDEO BELOW, CHRIS ROSEBROUGH DISCUSSES ‘VISION CASTING’ WITH ‘ISSUES, ETC.’S,TODD WILKEN. AT THE 29:10 MARK YOU WILL HEAR THE ‘CREEPY’ CODE FOR STEVEN FURTICK’S, ELEVATION CHURCH, AT 43:10 MINUTE MARK YOU WILL HEAR JAMES MACDONALD SPEAKING TO A GROUP OF PASTORS ABOUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE ‘DIVISIVE’ MAN, AND AT THE 45:45 MINUTE MARK YOU WILL HEAR WHAT MARK DRISCOLL HAS TO SAY CONCERNING THOSE WHO WILL OPPOSE THE ‘VISION’ OF MARS HILL CHURCH. NOTE THE EVIL IN HIS VOICE AS HE SPEAKS. THOUGH I FIND ALL OF THESE CLIPS DISTURBING, MARK DRISCOLL’S CLIP IS THE MOST DISTURBING AND CLEARLY HIS ATTITUDE DOES NOT REFLECT CHRIST AT ALL!

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN TO CHRIS ROSEBROUGH’S DEC. 16th 2013 PROGRAM:

At the links below, you will read about some more disturbing information concerning Steven Furtick and Elevation Church that I also found today on Twitter. More and more we are seeing manipulative tactics being used on people who attend mega-churches in order to bring about the results that only God can produce in a person’s heart. Clearly and sadly, many ‘pastors’ today view the church simply as an organization or corporation, and they are using the strategies of men to produce growth and results. May God bring all who participate in things similar to this to true repentance, for they will stand before a Holy God one day and give an account for all they have done and their motives for doing so, as will each and every one of us have to do. (1 Corinthians 3:12-16)

MORE REASONS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT STEVEN FURTICK:

I must admit that over the 14 1/2 years that I attended Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows, Pastor James would frequently have ‘spontaneous baptisms’ as Steven Furtick does at Elevation Church. Sadly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the same manipulative tactics that are clearly used at Elevation Church are also used at Harvest Bible Chapel.

AT THE 45 MINUTE MARK AT THE LINK BELOW, CHRIS ROSEBROUGH POINTS OUT THE SERIOUS AND EVEN BLASPHEMOUS THINGS STEVEN FURTICK SAYS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH SANDY KRAKOWSKI CONCERNING HIS NEW BOOK, ‘CRASH THE CHATTERBOX’

**UPDATED 3-4-14** FINAL POINT WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT STEVEN FURTICK:

Last year at the ‘Holy Trinity Brompton Leadership Conference,’ Steven Furtick said the following starting @4:15:

“I feel real strongly what God put in me to give to you tonight…” “So I want to share with you…tonight from the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, and I want to share with you about a transitional moment in the life of Elisha the prophet. And if you’ll stay with me in this sermon…I don’t know that you’ll take a lot of notes…usually when I come to a conference like this by this point I feel like I cannot write another thing…I have a notebook full of ideas, and…I feel like I don’t need another piece of information at this point. So with that in mind, I thought I would get a little bit beyond the information realm, and…maybe we can move together tonight into a time of impartation (someone cheers at this point) and then maybe together we can see if God would bring us into a… an encounter with Him before we leave this place that…will change us and change our world.” (applause) SOURCE

In case you’re wondering why what Steven Furtick said should be very concerning, and in case you’re not aware of what ‘a time of impartation’ is to many leaders in the Charismatic Movement, please consider watching the following videos I posted below. Briefly I will just say that since 1990 Nicky Gumbel has been the leader of the Alpha Course, and Holy TrinityBrompton Church is known for their promotion of the ‘Toronto Blessing‘ which includes ‘manifestations of animal noises,’ people being ‘slain in thespirit,’people acting ‘drunk in the spirit‘, and many other unbiblical manifestations as you will see in the second video that I posted below.

BENNY HINN HAVING A TIME OF IMPARTATION:

SHOCKING DOCUMENTARY BY ANDREW STROM:

ALPHA – ATTEND OR AVOID – CECIL ANDREWS – PART 1 OF 2

Is it possible that Steven Furtick has gotten involved with these types of manifestations since he has become involved with Nicky Gumbel? I am only speculating at this point, but it really makes you wonder why he used the term ‘atime of impartation‘ instead of ‘a time of prayer.’

**UPDATED 2-20-14** INFORMATION CONCERNING PERRY NOBLE:

Just as with Steven Furtick, I never heard of Perry Noble until information came out concerning the first ‘Elephant Room Conference‘ in which he took part in along with Steven Furtick and others. As many in the ‘ChurchGrowth Movement‘ do, Perry Noble chooses to use worldly methods to appeal to unbelievers in order to bring them into the church. And in April of 2009 he chose to play AC DC’s song, ‘Highway To Hell‘ at his EasterService at Newspring Church. His reason for doing so, however, does not line up with what he declared during the ‘Elephant Room Conference.’ In the video below you will hear not only a short clip from ‘The ElephantRoom Conference‘ in which Perry Noble explains his reason for doing so, but also you will hear him explain to his whole church congregation the reason why he played ‘Highway to Hell‘ for his Easter service. His reason seems quite clear by what he says, but ultimately God will be the one who will judge his motives:

After listening to what he says in the video above, I encourage you to listen to the entire segment that took place during the ‘Elephant RoomConference‘ at the first link below where you can hear James MacDonald, Mark Driscoll, and Perry Noble discuss his decision to play that song in church:

A REVIEW OF PERRY NOBLE’S SERMON FROM AC/DC SUNDAY – IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT HE PLAYED THE SONG, ‘HIGHWAY TO HELL’ DID PERRY NOBLE AT LEAST PREACH THE GOSPEL ON EASTER OF 2009? READ HIS THOROUGH REVIEW AT THE LINK BELOWAND FIND OUT:

**UPDATED 2-28-14**INFORMATION CONCERNING JAMES MACDONALD:

Then there’s my former pastor, James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows, whom I deeply appreciated because of his strong stand for Biblical truth and how he would preach God’s Word without apology. After leaving my former Assembly of God Church of 16 years because the leadership was beginning to get involved with the ‘Pensacola‘revival,’ I was finally beginning to trust a pastor again, and felt assured that James would be a pastor who would never give in to compromise. However, as many of us now know, sadly he did begin to change. If I had to pinpoint exactly when he started to change, I can say without a doubt it was right after he came back from staying with Greg Laurie when he was having his cancer treatments. And by reading some comments on The Elephant’s Debt and comments on some of the posts on Blood Stained Ink, I know that many other people who used to attend HBCRM (and some who still attend) have come to that same realization. Whether Greg Laurie influenced him in some way, or someone else did, it was obvious to many of us that he was no longer the same James MacDonald that we once knew and looked forward to hearing when he preached almost every Saturday evening and Sunday morning. He changed so much that one morning as I heard him preaching I actually had these thoughts:

“Who are you, and where is the real James MacDonald? Did someone clone him and replace the real James with his clone?”

One day when I was doing a ‘search’ on the Internet, I came across the following article which made me laugh:

It was rather comforting knowing now that I wasn’t the only one who had some outlandish thoughts about James because the changes in him were so obvious and rather concerning! In the article above which was written on February 10th 2012, Cameron Buettel said the following:

“It would seem that my theory about the real James MacDonald being abducted by aliens some time last year is not as far fetched as my doubters first thought. Of the multitudes of weird things James MacDonald has done over the last year or so, perhaps the most alarming was his invitation to TD Jakes to attend his Elephant Room Conference where “brothers” discuss their methodological differences.” (SOURCE)

Yes, Cameron, I am in total agreement! And because of what happen that night concerning T D Jakes — as I explained in detail in my WARNING YOU WITH TEARSpost — I did not return to Harvest Bible Chapel, Rolling Meadows — my church of over 14 1/2 years — ever again.

**UPDATED 2-27-14** As previously mentioned, James came up with the idea of the ‘Elephant RoomConference.’ We then began to see James form a close bond(or should I say they formed a “tribe,” as they referred to it in these ‘Elephant Room’ conferences)with pastors that many of us have valid concerns about: Mark Driscoll, Steven Furtick, Perry Noble…and then in ER2 there was T D Jakes –a known Modalist. An idea that could have been amazing if James would have firmly, but lovingly held each pastor accountable to God’s Word and challenged them in certain areas where they were compromising, sadly ‘ER2‘ ended in disaster because of how TDJakes was basically declared as having embraced the Biblical understanding of the Trinity, when it was obvious to many Biblical scholars who examined all that he had said that night that he was still using the language of a Modalist. (Please consider listening to the many videos I added on my ‘Warning You With Tears’ post that examine all that T D Jakes said at ‘ER2’ in light of Scripture and in light of how one who does not believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity describes God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). And even though James did stand his ground concerning Perry Noble’s idea of playing ‘Highway To Hell’ and constantly and firmly said it “was a bad idea,” and said, “”I just don’t get it atall,” and “The message of ‘Highway To Hell’ is blatantly offensive,” if you listen to the link I posted above — ‘ShouldChurch Leaders Play ‘Highway To Hell’ To Reach Unbelievers,’ — after James continued to listen to Perry Noble justify his reasons for playing it, near the end you will sadly hear James suddenly begin to change his once firm stand on his strong opposition to it. Towards the end of the video after listening to Perry Noble constantly defend his decision to play ‘HTH’, he asks Matt Chandler if he would play ‘HTH’ in his church, and then James says the following:

“He’s really making me think. I gotta say that. I mean he’s really making me think… he has a strategy, it’s thought through…he believes it honors God, he doesn’t think he’s compromising in any way.” Like he is on it with a passion, and a reason, and defending it –toe to toe.” …”He’s thought it through very carefully”

After Matt Chandler expresses concern about the possibility that pastors may fly into license; all things are permissible,’ James says:

“To me personally I would never allow something that so defames the glory of God and the reputation of Jesus. I would not allow it in my service. Unclean! I would not allow it.”

“…do you think it was a sin against God?”

James replied:

“…I don’t doubt his motives and I definitely don’t think it was sin for him to do it…”

“Here’s my thought on the subject for what it’s worth: I’m already being instructed by this. Frankly I’m not surprised, but I’m blessed by the sincerity, and the intentionality with which you’re doing the things that you’re doing. Like I’m instructed by that. I’m going have to think about that –some more. My perspective is this: If it doesn’t adorn the gospel…it’s the beauty of Christ that’s at stake in everything we do. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (Then quotes 2 Corinthians 3:18 )

“If it doesn’t adorn the beauty of God’s great Son, if it doesn’t display Him and show Him off…it’s the manifest presence of God in the service which is the powerful life changing element. I believe that if it doesn’t adorn the gospel it doesn’t advance the gospel. We may see fruit…some fruit from it…we may draw people with it, we may draw decisions with it…and I’ll say it as simply as I know how in summary: I do think that if it doesn’t adorn the gospel, it doesn’t advance the gospel.”

Perry Noblesays, in part:

“…I think it was used to adore, and be used to advance the gospel because the song was redeemed.”

James replied:

“I’m gonna just say that I’m really blessed by you right now because your…your thinking is a lot different that I thought it was gonna to be. I think you’re wrong about it. But you really have thought it through…as you said, ‘we prayed on it’…” “I’m just gonna stand on that point… if it doesn’t make Jesus more beautiful to people it’s not advancing our mission.” ” If it’s not elevating God and God’s glory and God’s great Son then it’s not advancing the mission. I really struggle with this idea that to be-in order to connect people with Christ you have to be like them. That ‘I gotta become like them to reach them’ is something that uh…I’m just not there yet.”

Perry:

“That’s what Jesus did.”

James:

“Yeah?” (Silence for 3 seconds, and then James says: “That would take another session.”

James:

“All right. Fantastic. Let’s wrap it up.”

And then that particular ‘conversation’ came to an end.

These conferences seemed more like ‘Hegelian Dialectic‘ sessions where the goal is to wear down those with opposing views so they conform to the beliefs of the majority. Did you notice how James would have his focus on Scripture, and yet notice how many times “I think” was said instead of them keeping their focus on the truth of God’s Word and the Holiness of God and the reverence that we should have in our times of worship. A shift began to take place where the belief of playing something so horrendous in a church as ‘Highway To Hell‘ was slowly becoming a possibility…at the very end it seemed that James might possibly consider trying to ‘be like them to reach them‘ with maybe a little more time and a little more thought.

We cannot be led by our feelings or our own ideas and justify something by simply saying, “We prayed about it.” Our standard to judge what’s right and wrong must always be God’s Word, and we must never lose sight of the fact that God is pure and completely Holy and our worship we give to Him must be nothing less than that; pure and completely holy!

“…worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28,29)

If you are not aware of what the ‘Hegelian Dialectic Process‘ is, I highly encourage you to watch the following video:

Just think of the many who attended ER2in January 2012 or watched by live stream and walked away that night believing that TD Jakes indeed is a “brother-in-Christ.” Think of those who bought the DVD’s, and those who are not firmly grounded in the truth of God’s Word who may even begin to listen to his sermons and be caught up in his ‘Word of Faith‘ false teachings, which is another serious error in T D Jakes‘ teachings that James and the other pastors chose not to address and confront him on that night. Those of us who are ‘born of the Spirit,’ must be Bereans and examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (and done by those who claim to speak for God) is true,’ (Acts 17:11) so that we will not be deceived. We are not to trust in men but in God alone. Pastors and teachers are to follow Christ and His command to ‘preach the Word,’ and to ‘go and make disciples,’ and not be led astray by following the dictates of their deceitful hearts.

Not only have some people lost sight of the Holiness of God, but also many have lost their fear of God. Profanity in the pulpit is a common occurrence in many churches today, when God’s Word clearly says otherwise, concerning the speech and conversations of those who profess to be followers of Christ and leaders in the church, as you can see from some of the Scriptures I posted further down.

When friendships with certain people begin to eclipse our ability to discern, and if our acceptance by others slowly becomes more important that our desire to honor and please God, you can be sure that it will be the beginning of a continuous downward spiral. And that is what I believe we are all witnessing concerning James and many pastors and teachers today –compromise for the sake of ‘unity’ and acceptance which not only causes one to harden their heart against the warnings and truth presented in God’s Word, but also hinders them from discerning truth from error.

Here’s another example: In January, James went away for some rest. And by his tweet below you can see that on one of those days he attended Perry Noble’s Newspring Church. And concerning Perry Noble’s new series on ‘CHANGE,’ he said the following:

I haven’t yet listened to the actual sermon that James listened to on that particular Sunday, but it was entitled:‘ThreeThings That Must Happen For Change To Happen.’ If you’d like, you can go to Newspring Church’s website and listen to it in light of Scripture (Acts 17:11) and come to your own conclusion.

If you’d like to listen to a Biblical analysis of one of Perry Noble’s sermons in his series on ‘Change,‘ you can listen to Chris Rosebrough of‘Fighting For The Faith,’at the link below. That will give you a glimpse into how Perry Noble misapplies Scripture, and will also leave you wondering why James would publicly tell his followers on Twitter that one of Perry Noble’s sermons is “great.” Maybe that particular one was, but by all the other ones I have heard him ‘preach,’ I am sorry to say that it is highly unlikely that it was.

Here’s an example of how Perry Nobleclearly takes Scriptures out of context. In this video Perry takes Scriptures that can only apply to Jesus and applies them to Steven Furtick! It is not a stretch at all that ChrisRosebrough entitled the following video,‘THE BLASPHEMOUS GOSPEL OF STEVEN FURTICK BY PERRYNOBLE’

Another concern we should have with James and his involvement with — and promotion of — Perry Noble, is the fact that Perry Noble promotes the book, ‘SACRED MARRIAGE‘ by Gary Thomas. In the following video Perry says:

“It is the best book on marriage written,” and “…very excellent information that everybody needs to hear”

And in case you’re wondering why Perry Noble promoting that book by Gary Thomas is concerning to many, please consider reading the following articles at Lighthouse Trails at the link below this ‘quick capture‘ and you will understand why you should be concerned about Perry Noble or any pastor promoting a book by Gary Thomas. Here’s an excerpt from one of those articles which clearly reveals why many are concerned about the unbiblical and even mystical teachings that Gary Thomas presents in his books:

SCRIPTURES FOR YOU TO REFLECT ON

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a human being, that He should change His mind.” (1 Samuel 15:29)

“I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6a)

“People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:16-19a)

**2-9-14 ** PLEASE READ THESE SCRIPTURES WITH THIS QUESTION IN MIND: DO THE QUALITIES IN SOME OF THESE SCRIPTURES DESCRIBE MY PASTOR?

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s suffering who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:1-3)

“Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his own family obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.” (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

“An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless–not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:6-9)

“The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. I charge you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.” (1 Timothy 5:17-21)

“So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-15)

“I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” (Romans 16:17,18)

“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

“For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.” (2 Corinthians 12:20)

“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that man will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:34-37)

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children. And live a life of love,just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or course joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person — such a man is an idolater — has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful to even mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:1-16)

“But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” (Colossians 3:8)

“Let your conversations be always full of grace, …so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6)

“Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him deeds are weighed.” (1 Samuel 2:3)

“To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” (Proverbs 8:13)

“Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advise.” (Proverbs 13:10)

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

“The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:11)

“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ (Obadiah 1:3)

“The Word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says, “Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but cared for themselves rather than My flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for My flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after My sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” (Ezekiel 34:1-12)

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7,8)

**UPDATE 2-9-14** If you have read all the Scriptures above, then please click HERE, and if your pastor is JAMES MACDONALD OF HARVEST BIBLE CHAPEL ROLLING MEADOWS, please take the next hour or so to listen to his message from the ‘ACT LIKE MEN’ CONFERENCE in its entirety.

If you have been one of those who have ignored the serious concerns that many of us have tried to warn you about concerning James MacDonald’s character, and how much he has changed, after listening to his message can you now honestly say that his character and speech honors Christ and matches the Biblical description of an elder?If you are a man and you brought your son or a man you were sharing Christ’s love and the gospel with to this conference, would you be proud of the speech of your pastor, or cringe and feel ashamed? Or more importantly, what do you think Jesus thought of his message? Did James truly glorify God with his whole message, or did he compromise in order to please men?

Since James has become very good friends with Mark Driscoll — who is sadly referred to by many as “the cussing pastor,”— maybe he has been wrongly influenced by his behavior. However, there is no excuse for James speaking as he did at the ‘Act Like Men‘ conference. He knows full well how our speech and our behavior as a follower of Christ is to reflect Christ and not reflect the behavior of the world.

James’ brother is in extremely critical condition after suffering a massive stroke, and I am deeply sorry to hear that and am praying for him, but this issue needs to be dealt with and not ignored!

SECOND ITEM OF CONCERN:

A long time former member of Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows informed me that HBCRMsent out a very lengthy letter to those who have recently left Harvest. (I have not received one yet. Maybe they are sending letters only to those who have not already let them know why they have left). Below is a ‘quick capture‘ of a condensed summary giving just the main highlights in the letter that this person received from HBCRM and was nice enough to share with me by email:

So, former Harvesters, what would it take for you to return? Would you even consider returning? Would you return if James sincerely repented for the reasons that caused you to leave? Are you planning on responding to this letter? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Someone who just read the recent HBCRM ‘Elder’s Update‘ informed me of the fact that James has agreed to take a pay cut and made many other commendable ‘lifestyle adjustments.’ But is this enough? True change takes place in the heart when godly sorrow grips a person and they realize the wrong they have done and ask forgiveness from those they have offended and sinned against. Are we seeing these changes take place in the heart and words of James? Only God knows his heart, so we must not judge his intentions, but the evidence of true repentance must be more than superficial changes.

The elder update also speaks of “accountability between senior staff and Elder board,“and “the priority of seeking reconciliation in relationships with former church leaders.” All good steps in the right direction, for sure!

But what about the ”ELDER VIDEO” in which the character of men were destroyed in front of all who attended Harvest that day? What kind of impression did ‘first time visitors’ have if they attended that particular day? Below is a ‘quick capture’ of a review of HBCRM on ‘yelp,’ given by a person who attended HBCRM only a few times, and one of those times he attended was the day the ‘Elder Update‘ video was played for the entire congregation. I accidentally came across this a couple of weeks ago:

The ‘elders video,’ incident was bad enough, but what do you think a first time visitor thought if they came to HBCRM on Easter Sunday 2013 when James chose to preach on –money??!! I never would have thought that James would have passed up an opportunity to preach the gospel on such a perfect day as the day we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! How utterly sad and even possibly blasphemous that he would choose to do such a thing! Truly James has changed!

Personally, I would not return even if he had a sincere change of heart and repented and asked forgiveness from all the people he has hurt, although I am still continuing to pray that one day that will indeed happen.

Even though I have forgiven James and long to be with some of my friends who are still there, I have found a church where the pastor has served faithfully for many years, and who preaches verse by verse without taking any verses out of context, or distorting it in order to add his own agenda. My new pastor preaches every Sunday and does not get involved with pastors who distort the Word of God. My new pastor knows me by name, and has talked with me almost every Sunday over the two years that I have now been there since leaving HBCRM. I have even had lunch with my pastor and his wife and daughter, and he kindly and generously paid for my lunch. Sadly, James would not even know me by name, even though I was a member for over 14 years and sat in the front of church within the first three or four rows, Sunday after Sunday. A smaller, more intimate church where they sing hymns with lyrics that praise God, giving Him all the glory He is SO deserving of, and where people know one another and encourage one another has been the kind of church I have now found, and I am very happy and at peace there. No more waiting for James to change and going home every Sunday feeling discouraged and righteously angry because of how he used certain Scriptures to insult those of us who have discernment and instead he labeled us as being “divisive.”

Please keep James and his brother in your prayers as I will be doing. It is not my intent to “bash” James— it saddens me to post this, especially knowing his brother is now in such serious condition, but I found this audio from the ‘Act Like Men‘ Conference before I heard about his brother, and had been planning on updating this post with more information since I wrote it on Jan. 23, 2014. My sole intention of adding the audio clip is that I am hoping and praying that God will use it to help those of you who are not only continuing to cling to the idea of “how much James has accomplished in the past,” but also to help those of you who are refusing to listen to the concerns that many have expressed on ‘The Elephant’s Debt,’ (especially on their latest and possibly last post —‘TO EVERY SEASON’). It is my prayer that many of you will finally realize — after first reading the Scriptures I posted and then listening to his message — that indeed the character of James does not line up with the godly character traits that an elder must have according to God’s Word, and that all of you will begin to think and pray about what God would have you to do.

Scott and Ryan have shed light on many serious concerns regarding the conduct and character of James MacDonald. Many godly men have come forward to give their statements concerning why they have left, and they have shared their personal stories of their experiences with James. It’s time that all of us get our focus on Jesus, and not on any man and his ministry. It’s time to examine the evidence and seek God in prayer for answers and wisdom as to what He would have you all to do.

Men, no matter who your pastor is, you are ordained by God to be the spiritual leader for your family. You will have to stand before God one day and give an account for how you have led your wife and your children spiritually, so please make sure you are testing all the messages that your pastor is preaching against the Word of God, (Acts 17:11) and if necessary, find a new church home where the Word of God is accurately preached and the pastor’s character reflects the character of Christ Himself.

HBCRM members and attendees, spend time praying for God to change James’ heart, but seek God as to how much longer He would have you wait to see true repentance take place. Or maybe in your time of prayer He will lead you to begin a search to find a new church where the pastor is accountable to godly men who have been appointed as elders by the votes of members of the church, and where the pastor will be faithful to preach God’s Word and will not give in to compromise.

**UPDATED 3-5-14** 7:05 p.m.** IN CLOSING

There was a time when most men of God were faithful to the call of God to go and preach the gospel and make disciples and correct and rebuke those who were in error. But sadly today some pastors simply view the church as an ‘organization’ and some even go as far as saying, “I think that Jesus is theproduct”(that they attempt to sell) as T D Jakes stated in the following interview:

Many mega-pastors use worldly marketing strategies and some use feel-good messages that appeal to the desires of their ‘consumers’ to grow their church instead of preaching a gospel of sin and repentance and the glorious good news of the gospel of God’s mercy and grace. Many may leave feeling good and many will probably even come back, but without hearing the truth that we are all sinners on the road to a real eternal lake of fire, their ‘best life’ will be only the good they experience here ‘now’ on this earth, and those who have ‘preached’ a ‘gospel’ that has no power to save will have to stand before God one day and answer for what they have done and failed to do. The blood of their people will be upon their hands.

And some pastors go to the other extreme and focus more on the law and make their people feel condemned because of their sins, and they do not share the ‘good news’ of the gospel that if they repent and receive what Jesus did when He not only took upon Himself the detestable sins that we have committed, but also Jesus took upon Himself the full wrath of God that was intended for us because of our sins, and that we can be completely forgiven and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and our sins will then be as far as the east is from the west, and cast into the depths of the sea.

Presently we are seeing more and more pastors and teachers focusing on ‘unity’ and focusing less and less on Biblical truth.Few today are men of God who have remained faithful to preach and to teach God’s Word to their congregations –all because they have not allowed the pressure to conform to the new standards to measure success as a church by, which seems to be,“It’s all about the numbers,”as mega-pastor Steven Furtick has been known to say. More and more these types of pastors continue to lose sight of their mission of preaching the gospel and equipping the saints, and instead seek to build more and more churches which have become their empires destined to crumble if these pastors do not repent and return to Jesus, their first love.

The true gospel is about preaching sin and repentance to people to make them see their need for a Savior, and realizing that God alone has the power to convict someone of sin and to lead someone to repentance. To use emotionally manipulating tactics — such as playing music when the pastor is preaching or about to give an altar call, or planting people in the service to come forward so as to motivate others to follow and come forward in an altar call — (as many of us have discovered is being done by seeing the latest news coming out concerning Steven Furtick, Elevation Church, and so-called ‘spontaneous baptisms‘), or to present sermons and music in a worship service that appeals to the sinful nature of men, implies that the good news of the gospel no longer has the power nor is it sufficient any longer to save someone. And nothing could be further from the truth!

Many pastors and teachers — and all of us who are followers of Christ, for that matter — may start out with pure motives and a heart that desires to follow God without compromise, however, what really matters is how we finish on this road called ‘life.’ This thought came to mind towards the end February of this year as I was doing my daily Bible reading. As I often do at the start of a new year, I began reading through the Old Testament. On this one particular day as I was reading through 2 Chronicles, I began to reflect upon the many kings of Israel who started out serving God, but in the end they began to compromise and did not remain faithful to God. Here are just a few of them:

“Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones, and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey His laws and commands. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. Zerah the Cushite marched out against them with a vast army and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one like You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You.” The LORD struck down the Cushites before Asa and Judah. The Cushites fled, and Asa and his army pursued them as far as Gerar. “The Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting, and with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and He was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. “At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa King of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and the Libyans a mighty army with great number of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hands. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war. Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people. The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers.” (2 Chronicles 14:2-5,9-13a,15:1,2,8,9,12-17,16:7-13)

“Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, but not wholeheartedly. When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them. The anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?” While he was still speaking, the king said to him, “Have we appointed you as an adviser to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped but said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not listened to my counsel.” From the time that Amaziah turned away from following the LORD, they conspired against him in Jerusalem and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there. He was brought back by horse and was buried with his fathers in the city of Judah.” (2 Chronicles 25:1,2,14-16,27,28)

“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal, and against the Meunites. The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful. But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him. King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died.” (2 Chronicles 27:3-5,7,8,16-21)

After reading all the many accounts of the kings of Israel, suddenly I thought of many popular pastors and teachers who no longer serve God wholeheartedly and who began to change and who have given in to compromise. These pastors no longer contend for the faith and no longer protect their sheep from false teachers as they once did. Instead they invite them in to preach from their very own pulpits! On theday they stand before a Holy Godwho alone knows their hearts and their motives, it won’t matter how many churches they planted, or how many people came forward in an altar call, or how many came forward to be baptized. What will matter is did they really place their trust in Christ. And, if so, were they faithful to preach the gospel without compromise? Were they faithful to earnestly contend for the faith? Were they faithful to preach His Word in season and out of season and teach their people how to rightly divide His Word? Did they bring correction when it was needed? Did they expose error and protect their people lovingly and fervently as a shepherd protects his sheep from wolves whose main intent is to kill and destroy them?

Many pastors and teachers — and many ordinary followers of Christ, as well — need to have a fresh realization of the Holiness of God. Because, sadly, many obviously have lost their fear of God, or they would not be doing some of the many things that they are doing these days and claiming that ‘God told them to do it.’ We all need to have our focus on Jesus Christ alone, and seek Him in His Word alone.

We also need to pray for our pastors and teachers, and pray for one another that God would fill our hearts with repentance and that we would seek Him wholeheartedly so that we will not change along with the culture of this world that is so obviously in rebellion against a Holy God.

A W TOZER – THE HOLINESS OF GOD

As always, God has a remnant of believers who will not give in to compromise and who will continue to earnestly contend for the faith. Will you be one of them?

WHY I WROTE THE FOLLOWING POEM

I began writing this poem a few months ago out of concern because of what I see happening in mega-churches in general. However, after listening to a video of a sermon from the weekend of January 4th and 5th 2014 preached by James MacDonald — my former pastor for over 14 1/2 years — and hearing how he enticed the people in his congregation by saying,“The biggest miracle that’s ever happened in the history of Harvest Bible Chapelis happening right now,” and how he went on to say that ‘he couldn’t tell everyoneabout it yet, but would in a few months,’ and upon learning from an ‘inside source‘ at the very end of December that “the [giving] “envelopes” were on every chair as people entered the auditorium,” and that “…the give stage was set from the beginning,”I was then strongly motivated to finish this poem so that I could warn people of not only the manipulative tactics that some pastors use to lure them in and to keep them there, but also I again realized the need to remind people of the importance of looking to Jesus Christ alone and studying God’s Word so that people would not be deceived by men and lured and captivated by their ‘vision casting’ plans that are presented to them by these pastors. Therefore, the following poem has some verses that are much longer than the verses in most of my other poems because whenever I attempt to express my concerns about serious matters, I find it very difficult to condense my thoughts into short verses. I apologize for how it appears, but I hope the message comes across without the lengthy verses being a distraction to you.

Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.

unchanging and His Word makes it clear

That we must contend for the faith, for deception is great, and proves Christ return is

indeed drawing near

**UPDATED 3-14-14 6:33 P.M. ADDED LINK TO PASTOR TOM PENNINGTON’S SERMON SERIES ‘WOLVES IN THE PULPIT’ (SEE UNDER ‘YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN THE FOLLOWING.’

**UPDATED AND COMPLETED WEDNESDAY, 3-5-14** 7:17 P.M.

**UPDATED WEDNESDAY 3-5-14 10:00 A.M.** ADDED ARTICLE ON THE CHURCH GROWTH MOVEMENT BY PAUL PROCTOR. SEE UNDER ‘FURTHER READING.’ DATED IN RED.

**UPDATED TUESDAY 3-4-14 6:02 P.M.** ADDED INFORMATION CONCERNING STEVEN FURTICK. SEE UNDER ‘FINAL POINT WHY YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT STEVEN FURTICK,’ DATED IN RED. WILL ADD CLOSING THOUGHTS WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS WHICH WILL FINALLY COMPLETE THIS POST.

**UPDATED SATURDAY 3-1-14 3:30 P.M.** ADDED SOME CLOSING THOUGHTS. SEE UNDER ‘IN CLOSING’ AND ‘WHY I WROTE THIS POEM,’ DATED IN RED. ALMOSTFINISHED…JUST A LITTLE MORE TO GO. LORD WILLING, SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY EARLY NEXT WEEK.

**UPDATED THURSDAY 2-27-14 9:17 p.m.** ADDED MORE INFORMATION CONCERNING JAMES AND PERRY NOBLE (DATED IN RED) JUST NEED TO ADD MY CLOSING COMMENTS, BUT MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FINISH TOMORROW. HAVE AN IMPORTANT FAMILY MATTER TO ATTEND TO THAT CAME UP. LORD WILLING, I WILL COMPLETE THIS POST WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY, AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

**UPDATED WEDNESDAY 2-26-14 9:00 p.m.** ADDED ARTICLE ‘THECULT OF THE VISIONEER’ BY TODD PRUITT UNDER ‘FURTHER READING,’ SOME INFORMATION CONCERNING JAMES MACDONALD, AND AN ARTICLE CONCERNING JAMES BY CAMERON BUETTEL. (DATE IN RED). LORD WILLING, I AM HOPING TO COMPLETE THIS POST BY THE END OF THIS WEEK. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

**UPDATED FRIDAY 2-21-14 12:00 P.M**. ADDED ‘STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH’ PODCAST CONCERNING STEVEN FURTICK -“WHEN DOES A CHURCH CROSS INTO A CULT” AND VIDEO OF STEVEN F. ENCOURAGING ‘ELEVATION CHILDREN’ TO LEARN ‘THE CODE.’

**UPDATED WEDNESDAY, 2-19-2014** ADDED INFORMATION ON STEVEN FURTICK AND ELEVATION CHURCH, AND MORE ON FRANCIS CHAN. ALSO ADDED LINK (COLORED IN RED) TO THE ‘ELDER VIDEO.’ ALL INFORMATION DATED ANDCOLORED IN RED. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

** UPDATE 2-15-14 9:26 P.M.** I WAS HOPING TO FINISH THIS POST BY TODAY, BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT I NEEDED TO TAKE CARE OF FIRST. LORD WILLING, I HOPE TO FINALLY COMPLETE THIS POST BY WEDNESDAY. ONCE AGAIN, I AM VERY SORRY, AND APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE.

**UPDATED 2-12-14**SEE UNDER THE FIRST SET OF SCRIPTURES. DATE IN RED. LORD WILLING, HOPE TO HAVE THIS POST COMPLETED BY THE END OF THIS WEEK

**UPDATED 2-9-14 9:01 p.m.** ADDED LINK TO JAMES MACDONALD’S MESSAGE FROM HIS ‘ACT LIKE MEN’ CONFERENCE WITH SOME THOUGHTS FOR YOU TO PRAYERFULLY PONDER, AS WELL AS A HBCRM REVIEW I CAME ACROSS ON ‘YELP,’ AND INFORMATION ON A LETTER RECENTLY SENT TO MANY WHO HAVE LEFT HBCRM. (ALL UPDATES DATED IN RED

UPDATE 2-6-14 3:32P.M. ADDED MORE SCRIPTURES** WILL TRY TO COMPLETE POST WHEN TIME ALLOWS…NEED TO CATCH UP ON SOME THINGS FIRST. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

UPDATE 1-31-14 11:38A.M.** FOR THE PAST WEEK I HAVE BEEN GATHERING INFORMATION TO SUPPORT SOME OF THE COMMENTS I WILL BE ADDING TO FINALLY FINISH THIS POST. LORD WILLING, I HOPE TO HAVE EVERYTHING I AM SEARCHING FOR — AND THIS POST COMPLETED — BY EARLY NEXT WEEK –MAYBE SOONER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

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Desiring for God to use all that I have been through in life, I decided to start my first blog, living4hisglory.wordpress.com, in order to write poems about some of those experiences to bring glory to God, as well as to share them with others with the hope of encouraging those of you who have been broken and shattered by life's circumstances and hurt by those who were supposed to have loved you rather than abuse you in some way.
Also, because of some pastors and teachers today who seem to be abandoning Biblical Christianity and instead seem to be either seeking to build their own empires and promoting their own agendas, and at times even leading the people in their churches into unbiblical, 'mystical practices' without some people even realizing it, I saw the importance and necessity to begin writing poems and posts in order to inform Christians, as well as to make Christians realize the extreme importance of testing what people say (who claim to speak for God) against the truth of God's Word, (Acts 17:11) so that they will not be deceived. It has never been -- nor shall it ever be -- my intention to bash any particular pastor or teacher; my sole purpose in bringing attention to false teachings is to make Christians realize that we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, and not to be followers of any man (or woman) and his (or her) ministry. I hope that you will be blessed -- as well as challenged -- by the things that I write.
In August of 2017 I started a new website to begin my new business as a Floral Designer, still with the same desire to live for God's glory, but this time by reflecting the beauty of God's creation through designing silk and high quality fax floral arrangements and centerpieces, and by helping and encouraging women who have always wanted to learn floral design. I will be teaching floral design classes for beginners so that women can learn how to design wreaths and floral arrangements, and I am also available locally to design arrangements for those who would rather have me create what they have in mind for their home, gift giving, or for a special event they may have coming up.
Thank you for stopping by and taking time to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary

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